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The Gordons werecrime fictionauthorsGordon Gordon (born March 12, 1906,Anderson, Indiana – died March 14, 2002), and his wife,Mildred Nixon Gordon (born June 24, 1912,Kansas – died February 3, 1979,Tucson, Arizona). Both attended theUniversity of Arizona where they met and later married in 1932. They wrote numerouscrime fiction novels, some of which were filmed.[1]
Many of these feature fictional protagonist FBI agent John "Rip" Ripley (as noted below). After they learned that the screenwriter ofMake Haste to Live received $40,000 while they, the authors, only received $5,000, the Gordons insisted on writing the screenplays for their books being filmed.[1] Gordon was an editor of theTucson Citizen newspaper and a publicist with20th Century Fox from 1935 to 1942, and later served as aFederal Bureau of Investigationcounter-intelligence agent duringWorld War II for three years.[2]
Mildred Gordon was a teacher and an editor forArizona Highways magazine. She worked forUnited Press and wroteThe Little Man Who Wasn't There (1946).[3]Mildred can be heard as a contestant on the 21st March 1951 edition ofYou Bet Your Life.
After Mildred's death in 1979, Gordon married Mary Dorr (1918–2004) on March 16, 1980. They wroteRace for the Golden Tide (1983)[4] andThe Hong Kong Affair (1998).[5] Gordon and Dorr created the Excellence in Media Angel Awards.[6]
