38:, Mexico) was an American author of mystery/thriller novels and humorous travel books. His first book was published in 1941. His fiction is characterized by tight plotting, brisk dialogue, memorable and well-defined characters, and often exotic locations. His travel writing documented the adventures and misadventures of the Dodge family (David, his wife Elva and daughter Kendal) as they roamed around the world. Practical advice and information for the traveler on a budget are sprinkled liberally throughout the books.
98:. His publishing career began in 1936 when he won First Prize in the Northern California Drama Association's Third Annual One Act Play Tournament. The prize-winning play, "A Certain Man Had Two Sons," was subsequently published by the Banner Play Bureau, of San Francisco. Another Dodge play, "Christmas Eve at the Mermaid," co-written by Loyall McLaren (his boss at McLaren, Goode & Co.), was performed as the
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David Dodge's first experience as a writer came through his involvement with the
Macondray Lane Players, a group of amateur playwrights, producers, and actors whose goal was to create a theater purely for pleasure. The group was founded by George Henry Burkhardt (Dodge's brother-in-law) and performed
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selection. Although this book was a more traditional—and practical—travel book, it too was liberally sprinkled with anecdotes of the Dodge family's personal experiences. He also wrote numerous travel articles for various magazines, appearing as a regular contributor to
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His career as a writer really began, however, when he made a bet with his wife that he could write a better mystery novel than the ones they were reading during a rainy family vacation. He drew on his professional experience as a CPA and wrote his first novel,
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architect, and Maude
Ellingwood Bennett Dodge. Following George's death in an automobile accident, Maude "Monnie" Dodge moved the family (David and his three older sisters, Kathryn, Frances, and Marian) to Southern California, where David attended
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Although a writer by profession, Dodge's true love was travel. He was fond of explaining that while many writers traveled in order to gather material to write about, his goal was to write in order to gather money to travel.
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smugglers. With its subject matter and extremely evocative cover art on both the first edition dust jacket and the paperback reprint, this book remains one of Dodge's most collectible titles.
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For the remainder of his career, Dodge alternated between mystery and travel writing, continuing the saga of the Dodge family as they bumble and bargain their way around the world.
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After two more well-received Colby books in 1949 and 1950, Dodge abandoned series characters and focused on stand-alone suspense adventures set in exotic locales around the world;
153:, 1947). His Latin American experiences also produced a second series character, expatriate private investigator and tough-guy adventurer Al Colby, who first appears in
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by car with his wife and daughter, beginning his second career as a travel writer. The Dodge family's misadventures on the road through
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215:, Mexico. Elva died on October 17, 1973. David died less than a year later on August 8, 1974. They are both buried in San Miguel.
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exclusively at
Macondria, a little theater located in the basement of Burkhardt's house at 56 Macondray Lane on San Francisco's
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Upon his release from active duty by the Navy in 1945, Dodge left San
Francisco and set out for
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purchased film rights before the novel was even published in 1952 and turned it into the
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editorial representative, and their only daughter, Kendal, was born in 1940. After the
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After leaving school, he worked as a bank messenger, a marine fireman, a
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was Dodge's greatest career success, primarily due to the fact the
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A David Dodge
Companion, via the Wayback Machine, Internet Archive
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in 1937. On July 17, 1936, he was married to Elva Keith, a former
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issued annual revised editions from 1954 to 1959. It was also a
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accounting firm of McLaren, Goode & Company, becoming a
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226:reprinted Dodge's second Al Colby novel,
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211:In 1968, David and Elva settled in
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814:20th-century American male writers
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455:20,000 Leagues Behind the 8-Ball,
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799:American crime fiction writers
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719:"The Kaiser Aluminum Hour"
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516:The Best of Mexico by Car
569:The Kaiser Aluminum Hour
427:How Lost Was My Weekend,
417:How Green Was My Father,
46:David Dodge was born in
809:American male novelists
653:Harrison, Alan (1940).
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535:(E96, November 8, 1949)
147:How Green Was My Father
669:"About The Last Match"
529:"Plunder of the Sun."
509:Fly Down, Drive Mexico
448:High Life in the Andes
437:The Crazy Glasspecker,
239:Bruin Books reprinted
199:Book-of-the-Month Club
122:(Macmillan, 1944) and
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84:attack on Pearl Harbor
63:but did not graduate.
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628:Dodge, David (2010).
276:Shear the Black Sheep
213:San Miguel de Allende
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557:(1953, Warner Bros.)
538:"To Catch A Thief."
295:A Drug on the Market
151:Simon & Schuster
128:Simon & Schuster
48:Berkeley, California
32:Berkeley, California
765:Thrilling Detective
483:Time Out for Turkey
357:Ransom of the Angel
344:The Lights of Skaro
264:Whit Whitney novels
176:1955 Paramount film
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86:he joined the U.S.
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28:David Francis Dodge
23:David Dodge in 1957
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554:Plunder of the Sun
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229:Plunder of the Sun
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794:1974 deaths
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761:David Dodge
747:David Dodge
698:BBC Radio 4
547:Filmography
184:Grace Kelly
61:Los Angeles
783:Categories
728:7 November
703:7 November
678:7 November
615:References
391:Hatchetman
180:Cary Grant
477:Irv Koons
459:Irv Koons
441:Irv Koons
431:Irv Koons
421:Irv Koons
370:Carambola
255:in 2016.
253:Carambola
247:in 2010,
222:In 2005,
178:starring
161:, 1948).
139:Guatemala
132:marijuana
68:stevedore
42:Biography
384:Hooligan
772:at the
511:(1968)
485:(1955)
461:(1951)
443:(1949)
386:(1969)
372:(1961)
352:(1956)
290:(1946)
205:Holiday
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532:Escape
499:(1962)
479:(1953)
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406:(2006)
400:(1971)
366:(1960)
346:(1954)
340:(1952)
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284:(1944)
278:(1942)
272:(1941)
143:Mexico
751:IMDb
730:2023
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705:2023
680:2023
634:ISBN
576:Read
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