George V. Higgins

George Vincent Higgins II (born November 13, 1939 in Brockton , Massachusetts , † November 6, 1999 in Milton , Massachusetts) was an American writer , lawyer and university professor .

Life

George Vincent Higgins II was born in Brockton and grew up in the nearby town of Rockland. He graduated from Boston College in 1961 and from Stanford University in 1965 . Upon returning to Boston College in 1967, he received a law degree. He worked as a paralegal at the United States Attorney , specializing in organized crime . From 1973 he worked as a private lawyer for about ten years and represented Eldridge Cleaver and Gordon Liddy in court. While working as a lawyer, he wrote columns for magazines such as The Boston Globe , Boston Herald and The Wall Street Journal . He later taught at Boston College and Boston University .

With his novel The Friends of Eddie Coyle , published in 1970, Higgins made his debut as a writer. The story of the Irish underworld in Boston received critical acclaim and became an international bestseller. The book was published twice in Germany alone. In 1973 it was published by Hoffmann and Campe under the title Hübscher Abend bis now and in 1989 by Goldmann Verlag as a paperback under the title Die Freunde von Eddie Coyle . The story was also filmed in 1973 with Robert Mitchum in the lead role and directed by Peter Yates as The Friends of Eddie Coyle . The second film adaptation of one of his novels was published in 2012. The Australian director Andrew Dominik filmed his 1974 novel Cogan's Trade with Killing Them Softly .

On November 6, 1999, Higgins died of a heart attack a week before his 60th birthday . He was married twice in his life. With his first wife Elizabeth Mulkerin, with whom he was married from 1965 to 1979, he had a son and a daughter. After the divorce, he married Loretta's Lucas Cubberly in August 1979. The childless marriage lasted until his death.

Work (selection)

Novels

• The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1971)
  • Pretty evening until now , German by Ben Witter , Hamburg, Hoffmann & Campe 1973. ISBN 3-455-03300-8
  • also as: Die Freunde von Eddie Coyle , same translation, Munich, Goldmann 1989. ISBN 3-442-05083-9
  • New translation: The Friends of Eddie Coyle , German by Dirk van Gunsteren , Munich, Kunstmann 2014. ISBN 978-3-88897-912-5
• The Digger's Game (1973)
  • Played out , German by Jürgen Langowski, Munich, Goldmann 1990. ISBN 3-442-05115-0
• Cogan's Trade (1974)
  • I prefer to kill gently , German by Dirk van Gunsteren, Munich, Kunstmann 2013. ISBN 978-3-88897-865-4
• A City on a Hill (1975)
• The Judgment of Deke Hunter (1976)
• Dreamland (1977)
• A Year or So with Edgar (1979)
• The Rat on Fire (1981)
  • Hot demolition , German by Jürgen Langowski, Munich, Goldmann 1990. ISBN 3-442-05117-7
• The Patriot Game (1982)
• A Choice of Enemies (1984)
• Old Earl Died Pulling Traps: A Story (1984)
• Imposters (1986)
• Outlaws (1987)
• The Sins of the Fathers (1988)
• Wonderful Years, Wonderful Years (1988)
• Trust (1989)
• Victories (1990)
• The Mandeville Talent (1991)
  • The Mandeville case , German by Jürgen Langowski, Munich, Goldmann 1993. ISBN 3-442-42049-0
• Bomber's Law (1993)
• Swan Boats at Four (1995)
• A Change of Gravity (1997)
• The Agent (1999)
• At End of Day (2000)

Jerry Kennedy series

• Kennedy for the Defense (1980)
  • Der Anwalt , Munich, Goldmann 1989. ISBN 3-442-05087-1
• Penance for Jerry Kennedy (1985)
• Defending Billy Ryan (1992)
• Sandra Nichols Found Dead (1996)

Non-fiction

• The Friends of Richard Nixon (1975)
• Style Versus Substance, a book about Boston Mayor Kevin White and his relations with the press (1984)
• The Progress of the Seasons (1989)
• On Writing (1990)

Web links

• Literature by and about George V. Higgins in the catalog of the German National Library
• George V. Higgins in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Erik Pace: George V. Higgins, 59, Author of Crime Novels , The New York Times, November 8, 1999
• Jack Adrian: Obituary: George V. Higgins , The Independent, November 10, 1999