Lawrence Sanders (1920–1998)

Lawrence Sanders was born in Brooklyn. After public school he went to Wabash College where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree. He returned to New York and started to work at Macy's Department Store. In 1943 he joined the United States Marine Corps and was discharged in 1946. Sanders was a former magazine editorial writer and later turned to a full-time fiction writer. Sanders wrote his first novel, the Anderson Tapes in 1970 at the age of 50. It deals with a plot by a group of criminals to rob a luxury apartment building. In 1971, Sanders received an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for best first novel.