Published Last Novel In October

ANN has learned that author Jack D. Hunter has passed away at age 87.

His World War I novel, "The Blue Max" was published in 1964, became the basis for a motion picture of the same title starring George Peppard two years later, and continues to find an audience today. The story of a lower-class 18-year-old German who sets his sights on shooting down 20 enemy aircraft to earn his nation's highest decoration held echoes of its author's own personal conflicts.

Hunter's website recalls he was stillborn, but refused to stay dead when doctors gave up on him, never was an athlete but lettered as his track team's manager, was colorblind but became an accomplished aviation artist, and abhorred violence but enlisted in the Army after Pearl Harbor.

Hunter eventually authored 17 published novels. His last was "The Ace," about American pilots in World War I, published in October (shown at right). He was reported to be working on two more books at the time of his death, and had discovered a love for blogging, which freed him from the constraints of editors and publishers.

Responding to a 1998 invitation to talk about his most famous work, Hunter noted that the literary establishment frowns upon such explanatory efforts, holding that a work should stand on its own. He commented:

"Although I've toiled some 55 years in the publishing vineyard, I'm still not sure who or what constitutes the literati. The cynical mind suggests that the term is an invention of the book industry's pharisees, calculated to intimidate authors who would stray from the Church of the Holy Profit...

"I've been almost everywhere and have experienced almost everything the world has to offer by way of kindness and cruelty. And now that my long road is nearing an end, I feel no further need to prove myself, or to submit to anybody else's idea of how I should live what's left of my life. In my personal twilight, I do what I wish, providing it's legal and not too high in calories. So here I am, commenting on The Blue Max because it pleases me to do so — and because I don't give a rat's empennage what the “literati” might have to say about it."

The Florida Times-Union, where Hunter had worked as a writing coach, reports he died Monday in St. Augustine after a battle with cancer, but not before one last blog entry on March 27.

"It's been a real trip, folks, but I'm hanging up my spurs. I've enjoyed writing my blog, as I hope you've enjoyed reading it. But, due to my increasing physical weakness, it has become more of a burden than a pleasure, and it's time, as the old cliche says, to exit stage right."

The family says the funeral will be private.

FMI: www.jackhunter.com/