Dennis Lynds, RIP

One of the longstanding leading lights of the mystery world has passed away at the age of 81:

Santa Barbara resident Dennis Lynds, the prolific and best-selling

author of mystery novels who wrote under the pen name Michael Collins

and other pseudonyms, died Friday, according to a close family friend.

He was 81.

Mr. Lynds died in San Francisco, where he had gone to visit a daughter

who was hospitalized after being hit by a truck, said Kathleen Sharp, a

Santa Barbara writer who had known Mr. Lynds since the late 1980s.

The cause of death was not known, but Mr. Lynds had been in poor health for a while.

“He was really, really generous. He helped so many writers in both

fiction and nonfiction,” said Ms. Sharp. “He would read your

manuscript, suggest changes … then he’d send you away with an

admonition, ‘Just keep writing.’ “

Before he became the bestselling writer of the Dan Fortune novels (under the pseudonym Michael Collins) he worked as a chemist with Pfizer & co. and later moved on to edit technical journals.

One of his very last pieces of writing — a State of the Union address written by Dan Fortune — appears in the current issue of Thrilling Detective.

Deepest condolences to the family, but especially to his wife Gayle, who must have a tremedendous amount on her plate right now.

UPDATE: AP has now picked up the obituary and provides an update on the circumstances surrounding Lynds’ death.

FURTHER UPDATE: Ed Gorman collects remembrances from Bill Pronzini, James Reasoner, Jeff Marriotte and Greg Cox, while David Montgomery and Bill Crider share their thoughts on Lynds’ death as well.