Meyers, Martin 1934-

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MEYERS, Martin 1934-

(Maan Meyers)

PERSONAL: Born December 26, 1934, in New York, NY; son of Joseph (a waiter) and Sara (a cook; maiden name, Goldberg) Meyers; married Annette Brafman (a writer), August 19, 1963. Education: Attended New York High School for the Performing Arts, 1948-49, Seward Park High School, 1950-52, and American Theatre Wing, 1957-59.

ADDRESSES: Agent—c/o Author Mail, iUniverse Book Publishing Co., 2021 Pine Lake Rd., Ste. 100, Lincoln, NE 68512. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Actor and writer. Has appeared in numerous plays on Broadway, including Zorba; appeared in such feature films as The Incident; television roles included Stan Perlo, One Life to Live. Military service: U.S. Army, 1953-55; became corporal.

MEMBER: Mystery Writers of America; Sisters in Crime; Private Eye Writers of America; Screen Actors Guild; International Association of Crime Writers, North America.

WRITINGS:

"PATRICK HARDY" SERIES

Kiss and Kill, Popular Library (New York, NY), 1975.

Hung Up to Die, Popular Library (New York, NY), 1976.

Red Is for Murder, Popular Library (New York, NY), 1976.

Reunion for Death, Popular Library (New York, NY), 1976.

Spy and Die, Popular Library (New York, NY), 1976.

"DUTCHMAN" SERIES; WITH WIFE, ANNETTE MEYERS, UNDER JOINT PSEUDONYM MAAN MEYERS

The Dutchman, Doubleday (New York, NY), 1992.

The Kingsbridge Plot, Doubleday (New York, NY), 1993.

The High Constable, Doubleday (New York, NY), 1994.

The Dutchman's Dilemma, Bantam (New York, NY), 1995.

The House on Mulberry Street, Bantam (New York, NY), 1996.

The Lucifer Contract, Bantam (New York, NY), 1997.

OTHER

A Federal Case, Scholastic Publications (New York, NY), 1978.

Suspect, Bantam (New York, NY), 1987.

Contributor of short stories to numerous books, including Marilyn: Shades of Blonde, Forge, 1997; The Private Eyes, Signet, 1998; Flesh & Blood, Dark Desires, Mysterious Press/Warner, 2002; and Flesh & Blood: Guilty as Sin, Mysterious Press/Warner, 2003. Contributor to periodicals, including Argosy. Also author of song lyrics for the television show Captain Kangaroo, Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc. (CBS).

SIDELIGHTS: The "Dutchman" series, written by Martin Meyers and his wife, Annette, under the joint pseudonym Maan Meyers, began with Annette Meyers' idea for the character of the Dutchman: a large blond lawman in a black hat, leather jacket, loose-fitting shirt, and boots who lived during the time when New Amsterdam became New York. Martin Meyers conducted preliminary research on New Amsterdam and discovered Pieter Tonneman, who was a Schout (sheriff) in New Amsterdam in 1664, and who fit his wife's criteria. The Meyers thoroughly researched the history of the region of modern-day Manhattan that was once New Amsterdam, as well as the history of the people who lived there, in order to create a narrative that accurately portrayed life during the period.

The "Dutchman" series traces the history of the Tonneman family over some 200 years, with each volume presenting a mystery set in a different period of New York City's history. The books are, according to Emily Melton in Booklist, "well written, deftly plotted, and carefully researched." A critic for Publishers Weekly, reviewing The Lucifer Contract, which concerns a plot by Confederates to burn New York City during the Civil War, finds that the novel contains "a wealth of surprising and entertaining historical tidbits . . . and the city comes alive in all its glorious, noisy mid-nineteenth century diversity."

Meyers told CA: "In the years it took us to research and write The Dutchman, we spent hours at the New York Historical Society and in the New York Public Library, reading as much as we could about the Dutch, English, Jews, Africans, and Native Americans who walked the five hundred yards of lower Manhattan that was New Amsterdam.

"We pored over maps and read about food and clothing, weapons, the flora and fauna, and the furniture. We wandered those five hundred yards at the tip of Manhattan, once bordered on three sides by water and on the fourth by a wooden wall that is now Wall Street.

"The most amazing thing we discovered was that New Amsterdam then, and New York City now, in terms of its people and what moves them, are strikingly similar."