John Dunning | |
---|---|
Born | New York City, U.S. | January 9, 1942
Died | May 23, 2023 | (aged 81)
Occupation | Novelist |
Genre | Detective fiction, mystery |
Spouse | Helen |
John Dunning (January 9, 1942 – May 22, 2023) was an American writer of non-fiction and detective fiction. He was known for his reference books on old-time radio and his series of mysteries featuring Denver bookseller and ex-policeman Cliff Janeway.
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Transcription
What is reality, knowledge, the meaning of life? Big topics you might tackle figuratively explainIing existence as a journey down a road or across an ocean, a climb, a war, a book, a thread, a game, a window of opportunity, or an all-too-short-lived flicker of flame. 2,400 years ago, one of history's famous thinkers said life is like being chained up in a cave, forced to watch shadows flitting across a stone wall. Pretty cheery, right? That's actually what Plato suggested in his Allegory of the Cave, found in Book VII of "The Republic," in which the Greek philosopher envisioned the ideal society by examining concepts like justice, truth and beauty. In the allegory, a group of prisoners have been confined in a cavern since birth with their backs to the entrance, unable to turn their heads, and with no knowledge of the outside world. Occasionally, however, people and other things pass by the cave opening, casting shadows and echos onto the wall the captives face. The prisoners name and classify these illusions, believing they're perceiving actual entities. Suddenly, one prisoner is freed and brought outside for the first time. The light hurts his eyes and he finds the new environment disorienting. When told that the things around him are real, while the shadows were mere reflections, he cannot believe it. The shadows appeared much clearer to him. But gradually, his eyes adjust until he can look at reflections in the water, at objects directly, and finally at the Sun, whose light is the ultimate source of everything he has seen. The prisoner returns to the cave to share his discovery, but he is no longer used to the darkness, and has a hard time seeing the shadows on the wall. The other prisoners think the journey has made him stupid and blind, and violently resist any attempts to free them. Plato introduces this passage as an analogy of what it's like to be a philosopher trying to educate the public. Most people are not just comfortable in their ignorance but hostile to anyone who points it out. In fact, the real life Socrates was sentenced to death by the Athenian government for disrupting the social order, and his student Plato spends much of "The Republic" disparaging Athenian democracy, while promoting rule by philosopher kings. With the cave parable, Plato may be arguing that the masses are too stubborn and ignorant to govern themselves. But the allegory has captured imaginations for 2,400 years because it can be read in far more ways. Importantly, the allegory is connected to the theory of forms, developed in Plato's other dialogues, which holds that like the shadows on the wall, things in the physical world are flawed reflections of ideal forms, such as roundness, or beauty. In this way, the cave leads to many fundamental questions, including the origin of knowledge, the problem of representation, and the nature of reality itself. For theologians, the ideal forms exist in the mind of a creator. For philosophers of language viewing the forms as linguistic concepts, the theory illustrates the problem of grouping concrete things under abstract terms. And others still wonder whether we can really know that the things outside the cave are any more real than the shadows. As we go about our lives, can we be confident in what we think we know? Perhaps one day, a glimmer of light may punch a hole in your most basic assumptions. Will you break free to struggle towards the light, even if it costs you your friends and family, or stick with comfortable and familiar illusions? Truth or habit? Light or shadow? Hard choices, but if it's any consolation, you're not alone. There are lots of us down here.
Early life and career
Born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1942, Dunning moved to his father's hometown of Charleston, South Carolina, at the age of three. In 1964 he left his parents' home and moved to Denver, Colorado, where, after a time working as a stable hand at a horse racing track, he got a job at The Denver Post. In 1970 he left the newspaper and took up writing novels, while pursuing a variety of jobs. Partly because of trouble with his publishers, in 1984 he stopped writing and opened a store specializing in second-hand and rare books called the Old Algonquin Bookstore.[1][2] At the urging of fellow authors, he returned to the world of novels in 1992 with his first Cliff Janeway novel, Booked to Die. In 1994 he closed the store and continued it as an internet and mail order business called Old Algonquin Books.[3]
Radio
In addition to compiling encyclopedic reference books about the history of radio programming, Dunning hosted a long-running weekly radio show, Old-Time Radio.[4]
Awards
Dunning received his first award nomination in 1981, when Looking for Ginger North received an Edgar Award nomination for "Best Paperback Original".[5] The following year, Deadline was nominated for this same honour.[5]
Dunning's novel Booked to Die won the Nero Award and was nominated for the 1993 Anthony Award in the "Best Novel" category.[6][7] The follow-up to this novel, The Bookman's Wake, was nominated for the 1996 Edgar Award in the "Best Novel" running.[8]
Personal life and death
On May 30, 1969, Dunning married Helen Rose Korupp.[9]
Dunning died on May 23, 2023, at the age of 81, following a long battle with dementia, stemming from a brain tumor diagnosed in 2006.[10]
Works
Cliff Janeway novels
- Booked to Die (1992)
- The Bookman's Wake (1995)
- The Bookman's Promise (2004)
- The Sign of the Book (2005)
- The Bookwoman's Last Fling (2006)
Other detective novels
- The Holland Suggestions (1975)
- Looking for Ginger North (1980)
- Two O'Clock Eastern Wartime (2001)
Other novels
- Denver (1980)
- Deadline (1981)
Nonfiction
- Tune in Yesterday: The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio, 1925–1976 (1976)
- On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio (1998)
References
- ^ Wheelan, Joe (April 28, 1992). "Author Combines Bookselling, Writing Fevers". The Item. Jack Osteen. p. 6A. Retrieved April 2, 2012.
- ^ Wheelan, Joe (May 25, 1995). "Worlds of Books, Murder Collide". The Daily News. Bowling Green, Kentucky: John Pipes Gaines. p. 11. Retrieved April 2, 2012.
- ^ "Welcome to Old Algonquin Books". Retrieved December 5, 2014.
- ^ Dunning, John (1998). On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-507678-8. Retrieved April 2, 2012.
john dunning on the air.
- ^ a b "Best Paperback Original Mystery Novel Edgar Award Winners and Nominees – Complete Lists". Mysterynet.com. Archived from the original on December 20, 2012. Retrieved April 2, 2012.
- ^ "Wolfe Pack Nero Award Recipients chronologically". Nerowolfe.org. December 12, 2011. Archived from the original on May 14, 2013. Retrieved April 2, 2012.
- ^ "Bouchercon World Mystery Convention : Anthony Awards Nominees". Bouchercon.info. October 2, 2003. Archived from the original on February 7, 2012. Retrieved April 2, 2012.
- ^ "Best Mystery Novel Edgar Award Winners and Nominees – Complete Lists". Mysterynet.com. Retrieved April 2, 2012.
- ^ "Dunning, John 1942-". Contemporary Authors, New Revision Series. Volume 155. Detroit, MI: Thomson Gale. p. 99. ISBN 978-0-7876-7909-5
- ^ McKinley, Carol (May 26, 2023). "John Dunning, author, rare bookseller, force of nature dead at 81". The Denver Gazette. Retrieved May 26, 2023.