Stuart Kaminsky is an author and mystery writer who has published more than 60 books, including biographies, film textbooks, novels and short story collections. In 2006, he received the Grand Master award for lifetime achievement in the mystery genre from the Mystery Writers of America. He graduated with a Ph.D. in speech from Northwestern, where he taught film and film history for 16 years.
The Daily spoke with him on Tuesday via telephone from his home in Sarasota, Fla.
The Daily: Did you enjoy your time at Northwestern? Was there anything that stuck out to you as being special?
SK: Yeah, I would say as a graduate student, the friends I made were very close friends, one of whom became the best man at my wedding sometime later. So close friendships at the graduate level and then when I began to teach, I made many close friendships with students and faculty with whom I stay in touch. I found particularly interesting the ease with which I could work with faculty members in other departments and other schools, and how we could create courses, interact and learn from each other.
The Daily: One of your recurring fictional characters, Abe Lieberman, works as a police officer in Rogers Park. What about the neighborhood made you base a series there?
SK: Well, I used to live there, my parents lived there, I’m very familiar with it. It’s one of those transitional areas of Chicago where ethnic change takes place rather quickly and fascinatingly. It’ll go from Indian to Pakistani to Russian to even some degree Turkish. I find that intriguing.
The Daily: What are some of the common ingredients that make up a great mystery writer?
SK: The same thing that makes up any great writer of fiction. There’s always something that tends to be durable, characters that tend to be, one hopes, indelible and, for me, that is the kind of touchstone for greatness in a mystery writer. But it’s the same thing in any fiction writer. I don’t think there’s a substantive difference between a mystery writer and a mainstream or classical writer.
The Daily: I’ve been told you were friends with Charlton Heston, who recently passed away. Would you tell me a little bit about your relationship with him?
SK: I worked with him for about a year, as his biographer and after a year – we had a contract – a decision was made to end the contract because he wanted to publish his journals. In one year, I got to know him well. I spent a lot of time with him and his family. He was always extremely generous … very felicitous, kind, responsive. I found him (to be) one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. The Daily: Tell me about some of the writers that have influenced you.
SK: (Fyodor) Dostoevsky is my inspiration. I reread “Crime and Punishment” every other year, I read “The Brothers Karamazov” about every three years. I’ve worn through several copies of both. One of the main reasons I’m inspired by them is that they’re mystery novels. They’re murder mysteries. Had they not been presented as literature, they would’ve done well as mysteries.
