Erle Stanley Gardner

a.k.a. A.A. Fair *, Charles M. Green *

Author Code: AESG

Educated at Palo Alto High School and a very brief time at Valparaiso University School of Law, Gardner became a self-taught lawyer and was admitted to the bar in 1911. He practiced law in Merced, California for five years before joining a sales agency. In 1921, he returned to the law and opened a law office in Ventura, California. In 1923, he published his first story and thereafter became a regular contributor to the pulp magazines of the day. Gardner continued to practice law until 1933, the year that saw the publication of his novel, The Case of the Velvet Claws, which introduced the character of Perry Mason. The huge success of the book convinced Gardner to give up the law and concentrate on his writing. He was very prolific and had already produced over 300 novelettes for the pulps prior to his Perry Mason success. He also produced many non-fiction works and was especially interested in forensic medicine. He was one of the founding members of the Case Review Committee (aka The Court of Last Resort) which reopened cases where a person might have been wrongly convicted. In 1957, his Perry Mason character was adapted for television and made Gardner a fortune over the ensuing years. His other works include The Case of the Lucky Legs (1934), The D.A. Calls it Murder (1937), Turn on the Heat (1940), The Case of the Buried Clock (1943), Two Clues (1947), The Case of the One-Eyed Witness (1950), The Case of the Restless Redhead (1954), The Case of the Lucky Loser (1957), Hovering Over Baja (1961), The Case of the Amorous Aunt (1963), Gipsy Days on the Delta (1967) and The Case of the Postponed Murder (1973 Posthumous).