"In the McGee Books, All of the Nomenclature Is Always Correct"

THIS one is for hardcore John D. MacDonald fans (and boating enthusiasts):

"Travis McGee, Boatman."

By Martin Luray (?-?).

First appearance: Rudder, August 1975.

Article (3 pages).

Online at Archive.org starting (HERE) and finishing (HERE).

   "He has a fine eye for good lines—appreciative of beautiful vessels as well as the lovely soul-damaged women that recuperate from time to time aboard The Busted Flush as it voyages to the Keys or the Bahamas."

TARZAN might have had jungle vines (and the occasional elephant), The Lone Ranger might have had faithful Silver, and The Caped Cruiser might have had the Batmobile, but only Travis McGee had The Busted Flush . . .

Reference:

- About McGee's boat Wikipedia tells us:

  "Travis McGee lives on a 52-foot houseboat dubbed The Busted Flush. The boat is named after the circumstances in which he won the boat in what McGee describes as a 'poker siege' of 30 hours of intensive effort in Palm Beach—the run of luck started with a bluff of four hearts (2-3-7-10) and a club (2), which created a 'busted flush,' as described in Chapter 3 of The Deep Blue Good-by. The books are all narrated by McGee, writing in the first-person past-tense. The boat is generally docked at slip F-18 at Bahia Mar Marina, Fort Lauderdale, Florida. A self-described 'beach bum' who 'takes his retirement in installments,' McGee prefers to take on new cases only when the spare cash (besides a reserve fund) in a hidden safe in the Flush runs low."

Resources:

- There's ample information about Travis McGee (HERE).

- Martin Luray evidently preferred nonfiction, since the only FictionMags entry for him involves a true World War II event, "The Daring Daylight Raid on Germany's Mile-High Fortress."

- John D. MacDonald was primarily a novelist, but we have encountered some of his shorter crime fiction over the years (HERE), (HERE), (HERE), and (HERE).

- However, MacDonald's shorter crime related work that we haven't encountered yet includes:

  "Bright Orange Shroud," (novella) Cosmopolitan, April 1965

  "Darker Than Amber," (novella) Cosmopolitan, April 1966

  "The Dreadful Lemon Sky," (novella) 1974

  "Terminal Cases," (nonfiction vignette) New York [Magazine], October 3, 1977.

The bottom line:

Unless otherwise noted, all bibliographical data are derived from The FictionMags Index created by William G. Contento & edited by Phil Stephensen-Payne.

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