Laurence Shames (born 1951) is an American writer.

Writing career

Laurence Shames is best known for his series of comic mysteries, all set in

Key West Key West is an island in the Straits of Florida, at the southern end of the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Island, it con ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. One of his most popular books, however, ''Bad Twin'', was written under the pseudonym Gary Troup, in a cross promotion between publisher Hyperion Books (now Hachette Books) and

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

, the network which produced the TV series, '' Lost''. In ''Lost'', Troup was a fictional character who was presumed dead in the airline crash that was the basis for the TV series, and he left a manuscript behind, leading viewers of the series to buy the book to find clues to the mysteries of ''Lost''. Shames was the ghostwriter for the bestseller, ''Boss of Bosses'', and was the Ethics columnist for ''Esquire''.

Personal life

Laurence Shames was born in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...

in 1951. He graduated from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

in 1972. He now lives in

Ojai, California Ojai ( ; Chumashan languages, Chumash: ''’Awhaỳ'') is a city in Ventura County, California. Located in the Ojai Valley, it is northwest of Los Angeles and east of Santa Barbara, California, Santa Barbara. The valley is part of the east– ...

Books

Key West novels

* ''Florida Straits'' (1992) * ''Scavenger Reef'' (1994) * ''Sunburn'' (1995) * ''Tropical Depression'' (1996) * ''Virgin Heat'' (1996) * ''Mangrove Squeeze'' (1998) * ''Welcome to Paradise'' (1999) * ''The Naked Detective'' (2000) * ''Shot on Location'' (2013) * ''Tropical Swap'' (2014) * ''Chickens'' (short stories) (2014) * ''Key West Luck'' (2015) * ''One Strange Date'' (2017) * ''One Big Joke'' (2018) * ''Nacho Unleashed'' (2019) * ''The Paradise Gig'' (2020) * ''Key West Normal'' (2021) * ''Relative Humidity'' (2023) * ''Sunset Bluff'' (2024)

Others

* ''The Big Time: The Harvard Business School's Most Successful Class and How It Shaped America (The Class of 1949)'' (1986) * ''Living Large: A Big Man's Ideas on Weight, Success, and Acceptance'' (with Michael S. Berman) (2006) * ''The Angels' Share'' (2012) * ''Not Fade Away: A Short Life Well Lived'' (with Peter R. Barton) (2004) * ''The Hunger for More: Searching for Values in an Age of Greed'' (2015)

References

External links

*
Interview with Laurance Shames
''A DISCUSSION WITH National Authors on Tour'' TV Series, Episode #140 (1995) {{DEFAULTSORT:Shames, Laurence Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century births 20th-century American journalists 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American novelists 20th-century pseudonymous writers 21st-century American journalists 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American novelists 21st-century pseudonymous writers American columnists American male journalists American male novelists American magazine journalists American mystery novelists Journalists from California Journalists from New Jersey Esquire (magazine) people Ghostwriters New York University alumni Novelists from California Novelists from New Jersey People from Ojai, California Writers from Newark, New Jersey