Flora, Fletcher

Title

Flora, Fletcher

Birth Date

1914, May 20

Birthplace

Parsons, Kansas

Death Date

1969

Occupation

Teacher
Government officer
Writer

Pseudonyms

Timothy Harrison
Ellery Queen (house name)

Biographical Text

Fletcher Flora is primarily remembered for his crime and mystery fiction. Flora worte 13 novels and over 150 short stories. Like other mid-20th-century crime writers, such as Lawrence Block and Donald Westlake, Flora started his writing career with the Scott Meredith Literary Agency. In addition to promoting its clients' work, Scott Meredith also provided content for adult book publishers. Among Flora's early works were the lesbian-themed titles Strange Sisters (1954), Desperate Asylum (1955) and Take Me Home (1959). Desperate Asylum was repackaged as Whispers of Love in 1959. Unlike other novelists of the time, Flora did not use a pseudonym for his lesbian-themed novels.  By the beginning of the 1960s, Flora was writing for mystery magazines such as Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, Mr. Cosmopolitan, and Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine. Three of his crime novels were published under the house name, Ellery Queen.

Flora married Betty Ogden in 1940. They had three children, Harrison, Timothy and Susan. He was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1943 and served in the Pacific during World War II. Flora started his writing career after his honourable discharge from the Army at the end of the war. He also served as an Education Advisor of the United States Disciplinary Barracks in Leavenworth, Kansas.

Awards

Cock Robin Mystery Award, 1960 (Killing Cousins)

Sources

"Fletcher Flora" Map of Kansas Literature. https://washburn.edu/reference/cks/mapping/flora/index.html

Fletcher Flora Collection, University Archives, PP 518, Kenneth Spencer Research Library, University of Kansas Libraries. 2011. http://etext.ku.edu/view?docId=ksrlead/ksrl.ua.florafletcher.xml

Goodreads Entry

Item Relations

This Item Creator Item: Whisper of love

Comments

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Collection

Citation

“Flora, Fletcher,” The Lesbian Pulp Fiction Collection @ Mount Saint Vincent University, accessed March 29, 2024, https://msvulpf.omeka.net/items/show/844.