Phyllis Ayame Whitney (September 9, 1903 – February 8, 2008Leimbach, Dulci

''The New York Times''. 9 February 2008.) 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 ...

of more than 70 novels. Born in

Yokohama is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

to American parents in 1903, she spent her early years in

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

. After the death of her parents she moved to

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

where she lived with her aunt. Later in life, Whitney moved to

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is the southernmost of the boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County and situated at the southernmost point of New York (state), New York. The borough is separated from the ad ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

and resided there for 20 years with her daughter and second husband, Lovell Jahnke. Staten Island became the inspiration and setting for several of her books. A rarity for her genre, she wrote mysteries for both the juvenile and the adult markets, many of which feature exotic settings. Although she was often described as a Gothic novelist, a review in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' even dubbing her "The Queen of the American Gothics", Whitney claimed to hate this title. She preferred to say she wrote ” romantic novels of suspense". In 1961, her book ''The Mystery of the Haunted Pool'' won an

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 ...

from the

Mystery Writers of America Mystery Writers of America (MWA) is a professional organization of mystery and crime writers, based in New York City. The organization was founded in 1945 by Clayton Rawson, Anthony Boucher, Lawrence Treat, and Brett Halliday. It presents the E ...

for Best Juvenile Novel; she duplicated the honour in 1964 for ''The Mystery of the Hidden Hand''. In 1988, the MWA gave her a Grand Master Award for lifetime achievement. In 1990, she received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the

Romance Writers of America Romance Writers of America (RWA) is an American non-profit writers' association founded in 1980. Its mission is to "advance the professional and common business interests of career-focused romance writers through networking and advocacy and by inc ...

. Whitney died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

at age 104 on February 8, 2008. A collection of Whitney's writing, correspondence, and photographs are available at the College of Staten Island's Archives and Special Collections.

Published works

* ''A Place for Ann'' (1941) * ''A Star for Ginny'' (1942) * ''A Window for Julie'' (1943) * ''Red is for Murder'' (1943), Reissued as ''The Red Carnelian'' (1965) * ''The Silver Inkwell'' (1945) * ''Writing Juvenile Fiction'' (1947) * ''Willow Hill'' (1947) * ''Ever After'' (1948) * ''The Mystery of the Gulls'' (1949) * ''Linda's Homecoming'' (1950) * ''The Island of Dark Woods'' (1951), Reissued as ''Mystery of the Strange Traveler'' (1967) * ''Love Me, Love Me Not'' (1952) * ''Step to the Music'' (1953) * ''Mystery of the Black Diamonds'' (1954) * ''A Long Time Coming'' (1954) * ''Mystery on the Isle of Skye'' (1955) * ''The Quicksilver Pool'' (1955) * ''The Fire and the Gold'' (1956) * ''The Highest Dream'' (1956) * ''The Trembling Hills'' (1956) * ''Mystery of the Green Cat'' (1957) * ''Skye Cameron'' (1957) * ''Secret of the Samurai Sword'' (1958) * ''The Moonflower'' (1958) * ''Creole Holiday'' (1959) * ''Mystery of the Haunted Pool'' (1960) * ''Thunder Heights'' (1960) * ''Secret of the Tiger's Eye'' (1961) * ''Blue Fire'' (1961) * ''Mystery of the Golden Horn'' (1962) * ''Window on the Square'' (1962) * ''Mystery of the Hidden Hand'' (1963) * ''Seven Tears for Apollo'' (1963) * ''Secret of the Emerald Star'' (1964) * ''Black Amber'' (1964) * ''Mystery of the Angry Idol'' (1965) * ''Sea Jade'' (1965) * ''Columbella'' (1966) * ''Secret of the Spotted Shell'' (1967) * ''Silverhill'' (1967) * ''Hunter's Green'' (1968) * ''Secret of Goblin Glen'' (1969) * ''The Mystery of the Crimson Ghost'' (1969) * ''The Winter People'' (1969) * ''Secret of the Missing Footprint'' (1969) * ''Lost Island'' (1970) * ''The Vanishing Scarecrow'' (1971) * ''Nobody Likes Trina'' (1972) * ''Listen for the Whisperer'' (1972) * ''Mystery of the Scowling Boy'' (1973) * ''Snowfire'' (1973) * ''The Turquoise Mask'' (1974) * ''Secret of Haunted Mesa'' (1975) * ''Spindrift'' (1975) * ''The Golden Unicorn'' (1976) * ''Writing Juvenile Stories and Novels'' (1976) * ''Secret of the Stone Face'' (1977) * ''The Stone Bull'' (1977) * ''The Glass Flame'' (1978) * ''Domino'' (1979) * ''Poinciana'' (1980) * ''Vermilion'' (1981) * ''Guide to Fiction Writing'' (1982) * ''Emerald'' (1983) * ''Rainsong'' (1984) * ''Dream of Orchids'' (1985) * ''Flaming Tree'' (1986) * ''Silversword'' (1987) * ''Feather on the Moon'' (1988) * ''Rainbow in the Mist'' (1989) * ''The Singing Stones'' (1990) * ''Woman Without a Past'' (1991) * ''The Ebony Swan'' (1992) * ''Star Flight'' (1993) * ''Daughter of the Stars'' (1994) * ''Amethyst Dreams'' (1997)

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitney, Phyllis A. 1903 births 2008 deaths Agatha Award winners American mystery writers Edgar Award winners American expatriates in Japan Writers from Staten Island Writers from Yokohama Writers of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction American women novelists American women mystery writers 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American women writers Novelists from New York (state) American women centenarians Deaths from pneumonia in Virginia 21st-century American women Writers of Gothic fiction