Joe Gores, a mystery writer and Dashiell Hammettologist, died Jan. 10 - 50 years to the day after Hammett died. Mr. Gores was 79 and lived in San Anselmo. The cause of death was a gastrointestinal hemorrhage.
During a 50-year career, Mr. Gores published 16 novels and three collections of stories. He also wrote TV scripts for "Kojak" and "Columbo." His best-known work was probably his last, "Spade & Archer: The Prequel to Dashiell Hammett's 'The Maltese Falcon,' " which was published in 2009.
In an interview at (where else?) John's Grill, Mr. Gores told the Chronicle: "The only way the book would work would be if I could match Hammett's writing style." That took four years, but Mr. Gores didn't mind the milieu. He'd been infatuated with Hammett since he was a graduate student in English literature at Stanford University in the 1950s.
According to Vince Emery, a San Francisco publisher, Mr. Gores patterned himself after his idol by hiring on as a snoop, with San Francisco investigator David Kikkert. It was supposed to be for research purposes but Mr. Gores unexpectedly fell for it. The two men formed the Kikkert agency, where Mr. Gores worked off and on until the mid-1970s.
"His favorite career was not the writing," said Emery. "He loved being a detective."
Mr. Gores liked to tell the story of being assigned to repossess the Cadillac of Jimmy "the Weasel" Fratianno. That was so exciting that he took along Dori Gould, who was to become his wife. It was their first date.
As Mr. Gores told The Chronicle's Edward Guthmann, "So I called Dori and said, 'Would you like a different kind of date than going to a movie?' She said, 'Sure.' And I said, 'We're going to go steal a car from a Mafia hit man.' She said, 'I'm fine with that.' So I knew then, that was the lady for me."
Joseph Nicholas Gores was born on Christmas Day 1931 in Rochester, Minn., where he was raised. He earned his bachelor's degree in English literature at the University of Notre Dame, then came to Stanford. After finishing the coursework for his master's, he was drafted by the U.S. Army. He spent two years at Fort Myers in Arlington, Va., as an information officer, writing biographies of generals.
His first novel, "A Time of Predators," about a Stanford professor turned commando, won the Edgar Award for best first novel from the Mystery Writers of America when it was published in 1969. He followed that with "Dead Skip," the first in a series of mysteries set in San Francisco. It introduced Dan Kearny and Associates, a repo outfit based on Kikkert Associates.
In 1975, Mr. Gores published "Hammett," which cast the novelist as a detective in San Francisco. It was later produced as a film by Francis Ford Coppola. It took another 30 years before he got permission from Hammett's daughter, Jo Marshall, to do the prequel.
Cara Black, in her 2009 review of "Spade & Archer" for The Chronicle, wrote that Mr. Gores "pulls the reader in with Hammett-style sparse economy and telling details. He paints every scene vividly, evocatively and with a savvy like Spade's own."
A year later, Mr. Gores was honored with the Eye award for lifetime achievement by the Private Eye Writers of America. According to Emery, Mr. Gores is one of only two writers to win Edgar Awards in three categories - first novel, short story, and TV series segment for an episode of "Kojak."
Survivors include Dori Gores, his wife of 36 years; stepson Tim Gould of Carson (Los Angeles County); and stepdaughter Gillian Monserrata of Antioch.
A Mass will be offered at 11:30 a.m. Jan. 21 at St. Sebastian Church, 373 Bon Air Road, Kentfield.