Gault had a high school education which took him seven years to complete. He was involved in a juvenile gang, but nevertheless wrote poetry which he signed with a female name lest one of his friends should find it. He was then educated at the University of Wisconsin and, after graduation, worked in the hotel business for some years. He began to write and sold his first stories to obscure magazines such as Paris Nights. By 1939, he had sold his first detective story to Ten Detective Aces, and decided to quit the hotel business and begin writing full-time. He was in the U.S. Army for several years during the Second World War. When he returned, he began writing steadily primarily in the detective/mystery and sports genres. His first novel, Don't Cry for Me appeared in 1952 and won the Edgar All Poe award and critical praise. He introduced the character of Brock Callahan, who would appear in a number of his works. He then turned his hand to high school sports, and was so successful at it that, after 1962, he concentrated on juvenile fiction. He continued writing into his seventies. He was awarded the Eye in 1984 for lifetime achievement. He also wrote some science fiction in the early 1950s. His other work includes The Bloody Bokhara (1944), Shakedown (1953), Murder in the Raw (1955), Night Lady (1958), Death Out of Focus (1959), Million Dollar Tramp (1960), Dead Hero (1963), The Bad Samaritan (1982), The Dead Seed (1985) and The Deaf Pigeon (1992). |
