In 1934, John spent several weeks in Europe, stimulating his desire for travel. Educated at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, he left school after two years and worked at various jobs before enrolling in Syracuse University, graduating in 1938. He then attended Harvard University and received an MBA in 1939. In 1940, he was commissioned a First Lieutenant in the Army Ordinance Corps. He served in the OSS in the China-Burma-India Theater of Operations. He was discharged in 1945 as a Lieutenant-Colonel. In 1949, he moved to Sarasota, Florida. While still at school, he published his first story, G-Robot (1936) in Double-Action Gang magazine. After leaving the Army, he spent time writing short stories, but it wasn't until 1946 that he had some success with Cash On the Coffin with Detective Tales magazine. Over the ensuing many years, he sold many stories to the leading pulp magazines, such as Astounding, Galaxy SF and All-Story Detective. He used many pseudonyms including Peter Reed, John Farrell, and Scott O'Hara, to name a few, but began writing under his own name in 1951. His first novel, The Brass Cupcake, was published in 1950. He also wrote some SF stories, but it was his detective fiction that received the most attention. MacDonald was a prolific author, producing hundreds of short stories and novels. His work The Executioners was made into the original film, Cape Fear. His other works include Wine of the Dreamers (1951), The Damned (1952), Area of Suspicion (1954), April Evil (1956), Soft Touch (1958), Nightmare in Pink (1964), The Last One Left (1966), The Scarlet Ruse (1973), The Green Ripper (1979), One More Sunday (1984) and Barrier Island (1986).