Baynard Kendrick

Baynard Hardwick Kendrick (April 8, 1894 – March 22, 1977) was an American mystery novelist. He wrote whodunit novels about Duncan Maclain, a blind private investigator who worked with his two German shepherds and his household of assistants to solve murder mysteries. The novels were the basis for two films starring Edward Arnold, Eyes in the Night^[1] (1942) and The Hidden Eye^[2] (1945). Kendrick was credited by Stirling Silliphant for being the source of the Longstreet character about a blind insurance investigator. He also wrote using the pseudonym Richard Hayward. His book Lights Out was filmed as Bright Victory.

Biography

Kendrick was born in Philadelphia and traveled to Canada as the first American citizen to enlist in the Canadian Army during World War I.^[3] He served in England, France, and Salonika. During his service, a fellow Philadelphian serving with the Canadians was blinded. When Kendrick visited him at St Dunstan's he met a blind English soldier who had a remarkable ability to tell him things about himself that a sighted person may not have noticed.^[4] The Tommy fingered Kendrick's buttons, uniform and insignia and accurately and rapidly stated Kendrick's war service record.^[5]

Following the war, Kendrick sold his first story to Field and Stream magazine while earning his living at Bin and Big's Hotels in New York. In 1931 he was let go from the company a week before Christmas and, vowing never again to work for an employer, began supporting himself by writing. After three books Kendrick started writing for pulp magazines, which paid well.^[6]

Kendrick's writing reflected two personal interests that he had developed: an interest in blind people and their coping skills and an interest in the history of Florida.

During World War II, Kendrick served as an instructor for blinded veterans giving him the material for his book Lights Out.

His novel Out of Control was adapted to an episode of the radio thriller series Suspense in 1946, featuring Brian Donlevy as Duncan Maclain.

The true story behind Kendrick's 1959 Hot Red Money was the basis for John Barron's Operation SOLO: The FBI's Man in the Kremlin.^[7]

Kendrick was one of the founders of the Mystery Writers of America, held its first membership card,^[8] and was its first president.

He died in 1977.

Duncan Maclain novels

Novels in the Duncan Maclain series:^[9]

• The Last Express (1937) Made into the movie The Last Express Universal, 1938.
• The Whistling Hangman (1937)
• Odor of Violets (1941) (aka Eyes in the Night; filmed as Eyes in the Night, in 1942)
• Blind Man's Bluff (1943)
• Death Knell (1945)
• Out of Control (1945)
• Make Mine Maclain (three novelets) (1947)
• The Murderer Who Wanted More (Dell Ten-Cent edition, 1951, one of the three novelets from Make Mine Maclain, q.v.)
• You Die Today (1952)
• Blind Allies (1954)
• Clear and Present Danger (1958)
• Reservations for Death (1958)
• The Aluminum Turtle (1960) (aka The Spear Gun Murders)
• Frankincense and Murder (1961)

Miles Standish Rice novels

• The Eleven of Diamonds (1936) New York: Greenburg.
• The Iron Spiders (1936) (aka The Iron Spiders Murder) New York: Greenburg.
• Death Beyond the Go-Thru (1938) New York: Doubleday, Doran.

Non-series novels

• Blood on Lake Louisa (1934) New York: Greenburg.
• Flames of Time (1948) New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.
• The Tunnel (1949)
• Trapped (1952) (under the pseudonym of Richard Hayward)
• The Soft Arms of Death (1954) (under the pseudonym of Richard Hayward)
• Hot Red Money (1959)
• Flight from a Firing Wall (1966) New York: Simon & Schuster.
• Lights Out (1945) New York: William Morrow.

Further reading

• John Barron (1996), Operation SOLO: The FBI's Man in the Kremlin, Washington, Regnery.

External links

• Works by or about Baynard Kendrick at Internet Archive
• Eyes in the Night, public domain film at Internet Archive.
• Baynard Hardwick Kendrick Collection 1894-1977 at the University of South Florida

References