Evan Hunter dies; he was better known as Ed McBain

HARTFORD, Conn. — Evan Hunter, a prolific writer whose gritty Ed McBain 87th Precinct detective series pioneered the police-procedural genre and laid the groundwork for a generation of TV cop dramas, has died at 78.

Mr. Hunter, whose earlier work included "The Blackboard Jungle," died Wednesday in Weston, Conn., of cancer of the larynx, said his agent, Jane Gelfman.

Writing as Ed McBain, his 87th Precinct series grew to more than 50 titles as it tracked a detective squad in a mythical city bearing a strong resemblance to Hunter's hometown of New York.

The series basically invented the police procedural genre, which demonstrates the activities of an entire police squad as it investigates crimes. It is a subgenre of mystery and crime fiction, which focus on individual detectives who concentrate on one crime.

The form has since become popular in novels and on television, including "Hill Street Blues" and "NYPD Blue."

"Hill Street Blues," the first TV police procedural with a large ensemble cast, bore a strong resemblance to the 87th Precinct novels in form, tone and spirit.

"I think he was the best police-procedural writer around," novelist Elmore Leonard said. "I think an awful lot of people must have learned from him, and if they didn't, they were nuts, because he was good. He was very good."

Born Oct. 15, 1926, in New York as Salvatore Lombino, Mr. Hunter began writing while serving in the Navy during World War II. He changed his name in 1952, believing his Italian heritage would hamper his career.

Mr. Hunter was a serious researcher, filling his work space with books on whatever subject the story of the moment touched. Otto Penzler, who owns a mystery bookshop in New York, said Mr. Hunter learned about police work by talking with officers on the east side of Manhattan.

"It's more realistic because it deals with real police work, rather than some gifted amateur," Penzler said. "He was one of the half-dozen giant figures in the mystery genre and single-handedly made the police procedural an important subgenre."

Mr. Hunter often produced two, even three novels in a year, continuing to write up until his death. He once told a reporter he wasn't sure how many books he had written and had even lost track of all the pen names he used.

Mr. Hunter drew on his own experience as a teacher to write 1954's "The Blackboard Jungle," a story of big-city school violence that became the 1955 film starring Glenn Ford and Sidney Poitier.

His other novels as Evan Hunter included "Mothers and Daughters" in 1961 and "Last Summer" in 1968.

He helped Alfred Hitchcock adapt the screenplay for the 1963 film "The Birds" and worked on screenplays from his own novels, including the 1972 Burt Reynolds movie "Fuzz" and 1960's "Strangers When We Meet," with Kirk Douglas and Kim Novak.

He is survived by his wife, Dragica, and three sons.