Lawrence Blochman

As a junior at San Diego High School, Blochman reported school sports for the San Diego Evening Tribune and, as a senior, he replaced the Tribune sports editor who had left to serve in World War I. Blochman then attended the University of California, Berkeley where he edited the college newspaper, the Daily Californian.

After graduation, he tried to write his "way around the world," working in Tokyo for the Japan Advertiser, in Hong Kong for the South China Morning Post, in Shanghai for the Far Eastern Review, in Calcutta for The Englishman, and in Paris for the Chicago Tribune.

Writing as Lawrence G. Blochman, he published more than 50 books, including many mystery and detective novels, as well as several hundred short stories, novelettes, and articles.

He also translated more than a dozen books and detective stories from the French, including novels by the celebrated Belgian writer Georges Simenon.

In 1948, Blochman served as the fourth president of the Mystery Writers of America, following Baynard Kendrick, Ellery Queen, and Hugh Pentecost.