Block, Lawrence

Lawrence Block is an American author of crime fiction born in Buffalo. He attended Antioch College, Ohio, between 1955 and 1959 without graduating. In order to pay for his education he began to work for a magazine publisher, and in February 1958 the story You Can’t Lose was printed in the pulp magazine Manhunt. The story also features in the interview book After Hours (1995, see References). Many pulp publishers at the time were interested in anything from soft porn to romantic fiction with moderate sexual content, and Block began to write prolifically for this market using both his own name and a number of pen names until 1966 when he became a full-time author. Apart from his college years he has lived all his life in New York. In 1960, he married Loretta Ann Kallett. They had three daughters together before they divorced in 1973. Block married Lynne Wood in 1983. The couple is constantly travelling and claim to have visited over 130 countries.