Martin Cruz Smith

Martin Cruz Smith (born Martin William Smith) was born in Reading, Pennsylvania, in 1942. He originally wrote under the name Martin Smith only to discover there were other writers with the same name. His agent Knox Burger asked Smith to add a third name and Smith chose Cruz, the shortest name in his family. Privately, he is known as 'Bill'. Smith was educated at the University of Pennsylvania, and received a Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing i... more

Martin Cruz Smith (born Martin William Smith) was born in Reading, Pennsylvania, in 1942. He originally wrote under the name Martin Smith only to discover there were other writers with the same name. His agent Knox Burger asked Smith to add a third name and Smith chose Cruz, the shortest name in his family. Privately, he is known as 'Bill'. Smith was educated at the University of Pennsylvania, and received a Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing in 1964. From 1965 to 1969 he worked as a journalist, and began writing fiction in the early 1970s. His first mystery, featuring a Gypsy art dealer in New York named Roman Grey, Gypsy in Amber (1971), was nominated for an Edgar Award. Nightwing was his breakthrough novel, and he adapted it for a 1979 feature film. Smith is best known for his novels featuring the Russian Investigator Arkady Renko. In 1981, Smith wrote Gorky Park, which was called the "thriller of the '80s" by Time Magazine. It became a bestseller and won a Gold Dagger Award from... less