Gardner, Erle Stanley (1889-1970), wrote 129 mystery novels that have sold more than 300 million copies throughout the world. In 82 of Gardner’s novels, the lawyer Perry Mason brilliantly solves a case. The first Mason story, The Case of the Velvet Claws (1933), was Gardner’s first novel. Gardner featured district attorney Douglas Selby in nine novels. Under the pen name A. A. Fair, he wrote 29 novels about the private investigators Bertha Cool and Donald Lam. Gardner also wrote hundreds of mystery, western, and science-fiction novelettes and short stories, and several volumes of nonfiction.
Gardner was born on July 17, 1889, in Malden, Massachusetts. He studied law in California and was admitted to the bar at the age of 21. He practiced law for more than 20 years, specializing in trial cases. He died on March 11, 1970.
