Harry Kemelman (November 24, 1908 – December 15, 1996) was an American

mystery writer Mystery is a fiction genre where the nature of an event, usually a murder or other crime, remains mysterious until the end of the story. Often within a closed circle of suspects, each suspect is usually provided with a credible motive and a re ...

and a professor of

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

. He was the creator of the fictitious religious sleuth Rabbi David Small.

Early life

Harry Kemelman was born in

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, in 1908. After receiving a

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

in English Literature from

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

and an

M.A. A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

in English

philology Philology () is the study of language in Oral tradition, oral and writing, written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also de ...

from

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

, he taught at a number of schools before

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. During the war, Kemelman worked as wage administrator for the

United States Army Transportation Corps The Transportation Corps is a combat service support branch of the U.S. Army. It is responsible for the movement of personnel and material by truck, rail, air, and sea. It is one of three U.S. Army logistics branches, the others being the Qua ...

in Boston and later for the

War Assets Administration The War Assets Administration (WAA) was created to dispose of United States government-owned surplus material and property from World War II. The WAA was established in the Office for Emergency Management, effective March 25, 1946, by Executive Or ...

. Following the war, he was a freelance writer and private businessman. In 1963 he became assistant professor of English at the

Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology Benjamin Franklin Cummings Institute of Technology (Franklin Cummings Tech) is a private college of engineering and industrial technologies in Boston, Massachusetts. It was established in 1908 with funds bequeathed in Benjamin Franklin's will. ...

in Boston. He was also an assistant professor at

Boston State College Boston State College was a normal school from 1852 to 1872 and a public university from 1872 to 1982 in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was merged into the University of Massachusetts Boston in 1982. History Boston State College's roots ...

in the 1960s.

Writing career

His writing career began with short stories for ''

Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine ''Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine'' is a bi-monthly American digest size fiction magazine specializing in crime fiction, particularly detective fiction, and mystery fiction. Launched in fall 1941 by Mercury Press, ''EQMM'' is named after the fic ...

'' featuring New England college professor Nicky Welt, the first of which,
The Nine Mile Walk
, is considered a classic. The Rabbi Small series began in 1964 with the publication of ''

Friday the Rabbi Slept Late ''Friday the Rabbi Slept Late'' is a 1964 mystery novel by Harry Kemelman, the first of the successful ''Rabbi Small'' series. Plot introduction The fictional hero of the book, David Small, is the unconventional leader of the Conservative J ...

'', which became a huge bestseller, and won Kemelman a 1965

Edgar Award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America which is based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards hon ...

for Best First Novel. The Rabbi Small books are not only mysteries, but also considerations of

Conservative Judaism Conservative Judaism, also known as Masorti Judaism, is a Jewish religious movements, Jewish religious movement that regards the authority of Jewish law and tradition as emanating primarily from the assent of the people through the generations ...

Adaptations

Kemelman also received $35,000 for the movie rights to ''Friday the Rabbi Slept Late'', a made-for-TV adaptation of which was broadcast on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

in 1976. The film starred

Art Carney Arthur William Matthew Carney (November 4, 1918 – November 9, 2003) was an American actor and comedian. A recipient of an Academy Awards, Academy Award, a Golden Globe Awards, Golden Globe Award, and six Primetime Emmy Awards, he was best kn ...

as Chief Lanigan and

Stuart Margolin Stuart Margolin (January 31, 1940 – December 12, 2022) was an American actor, director, and screenwriter of film and television. He was known for playing con artist Evelyn "Angel" Martin on the 1970s television series '' The Rockford Files'', ...

as Rabbi Small. A short-lived TV series, ''

Lanigan's Rabbi ''Lanigan's Rabbi'' is an American police procedural television series that aired on NBC from January 30 to April 24, 1977. The title alludes to Police Chief Paul ''Lanigan'' and his friend, ''Rabbi'' David Small. Synopsis Based upon a serie ...

'', shown as part of

's '' Mystery Movie'' series in January 1977, was based on the book series.

played Chief Lanigan with

Bruce Solomon Bruce Peter Solomon (born 12 August 1943), is an American film and television actor, best known for the roles of Sgt. Foley in the TV show ''Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman'' and Kenny Zuckerman in ''Beverly Hills, 90210''. Career Television and fil ...

as Rabbi Small. In 2003, director Alvaro Brechner shot an adaptation of "The Nine Mile Walk" in

Toledo, Spain Toledo ( ; ) is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality of Spain, the capital of the province of Toledo and the ''de jure'' seat of the government and parliament of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castilla� ...

. The film was shown in more than 100 international film festivals, garnering several awards.

Death

Kemelman died in 1996, at the age of 88, in

Marblehead, Massachusetts Marblehead is a coastal New England town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, along the North Shore (Massachusetts), North Shore. Its population was 20,441 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. The town lies on a small peninsu ...

Bibliography

The Nicky Welt stories

# "The Nine Mile Walk" – 1947 # "The Straw Man" – 1950 # "The Ten O'Clock Scholar" – 1952 # "End Play" – 1950 # "Time and Time Again (The Man with Two Watches)" – 1962 # "The Whistling Tea Kettle (The Adelphi Bowl)" – 1963 # "The Bread and Butter Case (A Winter's Tale)" – 1962 # "The Man on the Ladder" – 1967 * Collected in ''The Nine Mile Walk'' – 1967

The Rabbi Small novels

# ''

'' – 1964 # ''Saturday the Rabbi Went Hungry'' – 1966 # ''Sunday the Rabbi Stayed Home'' – 1969 # ''Monday the Rabbi Took Off'' – 1972 # ''Tuesday the Rabbi Saw Red'' – 1973 # ''

Wednesday the Rabbi Got Wet ''Wednesday the Rabbi Got Wet'' is a mystery novel written by Harry Kemelman in 1976, one of the ''Rabbi Small'' series. Plot introduction The fictional hero of the book, David Small, is the unconventional leader of the Conservative Jewish co ...

'' – 1976 # ''Thursday the Rabbi Walked Out'' – 1978 # ''Conversations with Rabbi Small'' – 1981 (largely a dialogue about Judaism with a young couple Small meets on vacation) # ''Someday the Rabbi Will Leave'' – 1985 # ''One Fine Day the Rabbi Bought a Cross'' – 1987 # ''The Day the Rabbi Resigned'' – 1992 # ''That Day the Rabbi Left Town'' – 1996

Non-fiction

* ''Common Sense in Education'' – 1970

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kemelman, Harry 1908 births 1996 deaths American mystery writers Edgar Award winners Writers from Boston Boston University College of Arts and Sciences alumni Boston State College faculty Harvard University alumni Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology faculty 20th-century American novelists People from Marblehead, Massachusetts Jewish American novelists American male novelists 20th-century American male writers Novelists from Massachusetts 20th-century American Jews