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This comes from a Mystery Guild feature back in 2001 for the release of HOPE TO DIE. Here's Matthew Scudder, as interviewed by Lawrence Block: LAWRENCE BLOCK: I hope this works. They want me to interview you. MATT SCUDDER: What for? LB: Well, the feeling is that you're a pretty interesting guy. I've been telling your story for over twenty-five years now, and--- MS: Has it really been that long? LB: The Sins of the Fathers came out in 1976. You do the math. MS: I remember that case. Wendy Hanniford, roomed with a gay kid and he killed her, then committed suicide in prison. Give me a minute and I'll think of his name. LB: Richie Vanderpoel. MS: I'd have remembered. And he didn't kill her, as it turned out. LB: Well, don't say who did. Not everyone's read the book yet. MS: Why not, if it's been out for twenty-five years? What the hell are they waiting for? Never mind, don't tell me. Publishing's your game, not mine. LB: You just solve the cases. MS: Right. LB: You've changed a lot, haven't you? I mean, you may be the same guy at heart, but time's had an effect on you. For one thing, you're twenty-five years older than when I started writing about you. MS: And you're not? LB: I know, but--- MS: Listen, if I'd known I was going to last this long I'd have taken better care of myself. But you're right, things have changed. I used to drink. LB: I remember. You really crossed me up when you quit. I thought I was going to have to stop writing about you. MS: What was I supposed to do, calcify my liver for the sake of literature? I stopped because I didn't have much of a choice. And things kept happening, in fact life got more interesting than ever, so you didn't lack for things to write about. LB: That's true, and sobriety didn't turn you into a plaster saint, either. I mean, you married Elaine--- MS: Best thing that ever happened to me. LB: ---and then you went and cheated on her with the Holtzmann girl. MS: Hey, men are swine. Get used to it. LB: If you say so. Can we talk a little about HOPE TO DIE? It's been three years since your last appearance, and people have been wondering what you've been up to. And your friends---at least the handful who survived EVERYBODY DIES. MS: Yeah, there was a pretty high body count in that one. But TJ's fine. When he's not doing something incomprehensible on the computer he's sneaking into classes at Columbia, get an Ivy League education off the books. Mick Ballou's got Grogan's up and running, and Elaine's got her shop. LB: And you've got a really nasty case to deal with, and as far as the police are concerned it's all over. MS: And the killers are dead. But, you know, when you start taking a closer look at these things. . . LB: And when you get into something, you don't give up, do you? MS: Well, I'm stubborn. LB: I would have said dogged. MS: Hey, you're the writer. But you don't give up too quick, either, do you? Look at you, writing about the same guy for twenty-five years. I mean, how's that for stubborn? LB: Dogged. Let's stick with dogged. MS: You're the writer.
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2006 Lawrence Block
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