Joseph Hansen was an American crime writer and poet. Although he published almost forty books in a wide variety of genres, Hansen is best remembered for his ground breaking series of crime novels starring his most iconic creation, Dave Brandstetter, an openly homosexual private eye who still embodied the tough, no-nonsense personality of the classic hardboiled protagonist. His first adventure, Fadeout, was published in 1970, and over the next twenty-one years eleven more entries in the series were written.
Hansen published his first work, a poem, in The New Yorker, in 1952. He also published poetry in other magazines, briefly sang with a folk-music-group on a California radio-station, and had several part-time jobs in bookstores and magazines.
At the beginning of his career as a novelist, Hansen wrote under the pseudonym James Colton or James Coulton, producing novels such as Strange Marriage and Known Homosexual. He also wrote two gothic novels under the pseudonym Rose Brock.
Hansen was also noted for writing poems, teaching workshops, and hosting a 1960s radio-show called Homosexuality Today. In 1970, he helped to found the first Gay Pride Parade in Hollywood. Hansen disliked the term "gay" and always described himself as "homosexual".1
American crime writer and poet, best known for a series of novels featuring private eye Dave Brandstetter (1923-2004)
| Born | 19 July 1923 |
| Died | 24 November 2004 |
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American crime writer and poet, best known for a series of novels featuring private eye Dave Brandstetter (1923-2004)
| Born | 19 July 1923 |
| Died | 24 November 2004 |
Subjects
Fiction, mystery & detective, general, Fiction, California, fiction, Gay men, Brandstetter, dave (fictitious character), fiction, Gay men, fiction, Dave Brandstetter (Fictitious character), Fiction, lgbtq+, gay, Private investigators, Fiction, gay, Insurance investigators, Los angeles (calif.), fiction, American Detective and mystery stories, Gay detectives, Gay men in fiction, Communism, History, Private investigators, fiction, Private investigators in fiction, California in fiction, Fiction in English, Fiction, general, Interpersonal relations, Investigation, MurderPlaces
California, United States, Cuba, Los Angeles, Rhine Province, Los Angeles (Calif.), China, Eastern Europe, Latin AmericaID Numbers
- OLID: OL39742A
- ISNI: 0000000107888362
- VIAF: 19678679
- Wikidata: Q1185232
- Inventaire.io: wd:Q1185232
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Alternative names
- James Colton
- James Coulton
- Rose Brock
| September 30, 2020 | Edited by MARC Bot | add ISNI |
| March 31, 2017 | Edited by MARC Bot | add VIAF and wikidata ID |
| September 15, 2010 | Edited by Lance Arthur | Correct author name order, update bio |
| October 18, 2008 | Edited by ImportBot | Found a matching Oregon Libraries MARC record |
| April 1, 2008 | Created by an anonymous user | initial import |