Joe Wambaugh died yesterday at his home in California of esophageal
cancer. He was 88.
I discovered his writing when I was in high school, a
paperback copy of The New Centurions. Afte that the Blue Knight
and the Police Story TV shows he created and co-produced. More than
anyone, it was he who put the bug in my ear about cops.
I didn’t read him for a long time after. I went to college,
got deeply involved in music, and read virtually all non-fiction for many years
after. I came back to him with The Choirboys about ten years ago, then The
Onion Field. Read all the ‘Hollywood Station” books. Right now I’m about
halfway through reading, or re-reading, all his books in order.
No one had a greater influence on me as a writer of police
procedurals; only three are roughly equivalent. (Alphabetically, Connie Fletcher,
Ed McBain, David Simon.) His willingness to deviate from the main story line to
show some of what cops have to face, either from the bosses or weird calls from
citizens, allowed me to greatly loosen up how I told the Penns River stories,
and for the better. His use of dark, sometimes even inappropriate humor also served
as permission for me to more fully express myself.
No one I know who interacted with him ever had anything other
than good things to say about him as a person. My personal story is, after
coming across his web site in 2016, I dropped a line in the Contact page to
tell him how much his books had meant to me. He wrote back to get my address,
and a few days later two elegant bookmarks arrived in the mail. Silver on blue,
they had an image of his LAPD badge and a listing of his books in order. He
signed both on the back. On one he wrote,
“To Dana King,
That was a lovely message. Made my day
Warmest regards,
Joe Wambaugh”
Those are still my go-to bookmarks for whatever I’m
currently reading. They never leave the house, lest I lose them.
