Editing Erle Stanley Gardner

{{Short description|American writer and lawyer (1889–1970)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2024}}
{{infobox writer <!-- for more information see [[:Template:Infobox writer/doc]] -->
| name             = Erle Stanley Gardner
| image            = Erle-Stanley-Gardner-1966.jpg
| alt              = 
| caption          = Gardner in 1966
| pseudonym        = A. A. Fair, Carl Franklin Ruth, Carleton Kendrake, Charles M. Green, Charles J. Kenny, Della Street, Edward Leaming, Grant Holiday, Kyle Corning, Les Tillray, Robert Parr, Stephen Caldwell
| birth_name       = 
| birth_date       = {{Birth date|1889|7|17}}
| birth_place      = [[Malden, Massachusetts]], U.S.<ref name="MaVit">{{cite web |url=http://www.newenglandancestors.org/database_search/mass_bmd.asp |title=Massachusetts Vital Records, 1841–1910 |publisher=New England Historic Genealogical Society |access-date=August 4, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100801123918/http://www.newenglandancestors.org/database_search/mass_bmd.asp |archive-date=August 1, 2010 }}</ref>
| death_date       = {{Death date and age|1970|3|11|1889|7|17}}
| death_place      = [[Temecula, California]], U.S.
| resting_place    = 
| occupation       = Lawyer, writer
| language         = 
| nationality      = 
| citizenship      = 
| education        = {{Plainlist|
*[[Palo Alto High School]] (1909)
*[[Valparaiso University School of Law]] (1 month)
}}
| alma_mater       = 
| period           = 
| genre            = Detective fiction, true crime, travel writing
| subject          = 
| movement         = 
| notableworks     = {{Plainlist|
*[[Perry Mason]]
*[[Cool and Lam]]
*[[Doug Selby]]
}}
| spouse           = {{Plainlist|
* {{marriage|Natalie Frances Talbert|1912|1968|end=d.}}
* {{marriage|Agnes Jean Bethell|1968}}
}}
| partner          = 
| children         = 1
| relative         = |
| awards           = {{Plainlist|
*Grand Master Award,<br>[[Mystery Writers of America]]
*[[Edgar Award]]
}}
| signature        = Autograph signature of erle stanley gardner.jpg
| signature_alt    = 
| website          = 
| portaldisp       = 
}}

'''Erle Stanley Gardner''' (July 17, 1889 – March 11, 1970) was an American [[author]] and lawyer, best known for the [[Perry Mason]] series of [[legal thriller|legal]] [[crime fiction|detective stories]].  Gardner also wrote numerous other novels and shorter pieces as well as a series of nonfiction books, mostly narrations of his travels through [[Baja California]] and other regions in [[Mexico]].

The best-selling American author of the 20th century at the time of his death, Gardner also published under numerous pseudonyms, including '''A. A. Fair''', '''Carl Franklin Ruth''', '''Carleton Kendrake''', '''Charles M. Green''', '''Charles J. Kenny''', '''Edward Leaming''', '''Grant Holiday''', '''Kyle Corning''', '''Les Tillray''',  '''Robert Parr, Stephen Caldwell''', and once as the Perry Mason character '''[[Della Street]]''' ("The Case of the Suspect Sweethearts"). Three stories were published anonymously: "A Fair Trial", "Part Music and Part Tears", and "You Can't Run Away from Yourself", also known as "The Jazz Baby".

==Life and work==
[[File:First National Bank Building Ventura (cropped).jpg|right|thumb|The First National Bank Building in Ventura, where Gardner wrote drafts for the first Perry Mason novels]]
Gardner was born in [[Malden, Massachusetts]], the son of Grace Adelma (Waugh) and Charles Walter Gardner.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vs9wCQAAQBAJ&q=Erle+Stanley+Gardner+Grace+Adelma+(Waugh)+Gardner&pg=PT814|title=The Social History of Crime and Punishment in America: An Encyclopedia|isbn=9781483305936|last1=Miller|first1=Wilbur R.|date=July 20, 2012|publisher=SAGE Publications|access-date=September 15, 2021|archive-date=November 9, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231109234228/https://books.google.com/books?id=vs9wCQAAQBAJ&q=Erle+Stanley+Gardner+Grace+Adelma+%28Waugh%29+Gardner&pg=PT814#v=snippet&q=Erle%20Stanley%20Gardner%20Grace%20Adelma%20(Waugh)%20Gardner&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=k6fDl9gE45IC&q=Erle+Stanley+Gardner+Grace+Adelma+(Waugh)+Gardner&pg=RA2-PA656|title = Genealogies of Connecticut Families: From the New England Historical and Genealogical Register|year = 1983|isbn = 9780806310305|last1 = McGhan|first1 = Judith|publisher = Genealogical Publishing Com|access-date = September 15, 2021|archive-date = November 9, 2023|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20231109234228/https://books.google.com/books?id=k6fDl9gE45IC&q=Erle+Stanley+Gardner+Grace+Adelma+%28Waugh%29+Gardner&pg=RA2-PA656#v=snippet&q=Erle%20Stanley%20Gardner%20Grace%20Adelma%20(Waugh)%20Gardner&f=false|url-status = live}}</ref> Gardner graduated from [[Palo Alto High School]] in [[California]] in 1909 and enrolled at [[Valparaiso University School of Law]] in [[Indiana]]. He was suspended after approximately one month when his interest in boxing became a distraction.  He returned to California, pursued his legal education on his own, and passed the California State Bar examination in 1911.<ref name=lawfirm/>

Gardner started his legal career by working as a typist at a law firm in California for three years. Once he was admitted to the Bar, he started working as a trial lawyer by defending impoverished people, in particular Chinese and Mexican immigrants. This experience led to his founding the Court of Last Resort in the 1940s. The Court of Last Resort, dedicated to helping people who were imprisoned unfairly or couldn't get a fair trial,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Erle-Stanley-Gardner|title=Erle Stanley Gardner {{!}} American author|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|access-date=August 28, 2019|archive-date=August 28, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190828182919/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Erle-Stanley-Gardner|url-status=live}}</ref> was the first of several organizations that advocate for the wrongly convicted, which among others include [[The Innocence Project]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://innocenceproject.org/|title=Innocence Project|website=Innocence Project|access-date=November 9, 2021|archive-date=November 10, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211110230612/https://innocenceproject.org/|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law#Bluhm Legal Clinic|Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.law.northwestern.edu/legalclinic/wrongfulconvictions/|title=Center on Wrongful Convictions: Northwestern Pritzker School of Law|website=www.law.northwestern.edu|access-date=November 9, 2021|archive-date=October 23, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211023104021/https://www.law.northwestern.edu/legalclinic/wrongfulconvictions/|url-status=live}}</ref> and [[Centurion (organization)|Centurion]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://centurion.org/|title=Centurion|accessdate=May 19, 2023|archive-date=May 20, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230520010239/https://centurion.org/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1912, Gardner wed Natalie Frances Talbert. They had a daughter, Grace.<ref name=obit/>  He opened his first law office in [[Merced, California|Merced]] in 1917, but closed it after accepting a position at a sales agency.  In 1921, he returned to law as a member of the [[Ventura, California|Ventura]] firm Sheridan, Orr, Drapeau, and Gardner,<ref name=lawfirm>{{cite web|title=Erle Stanley Gardner|url=http://www.bentonorr.com/erle-stanley-gardner/|publisher=Benton, Orr, Duval, & Buckingham|access-date=August 1, 2013|first=Richard|last=Senate|archive-date=June 2, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230602082945/http://www.bentonorr.com/erle-stanley-gardner/|url-status=live}}</ref> where he remained until the publication of his first Perry Mason novel in 1933.<ref name="ReferenceA">''Current Biography 1944'', pp. 224–226</ref>

Gardner enjoyed litigation and the development of trial strategy but was otherwise bored by legal practice. In his spare time, he began writing for [[pulp magazines]]. His first story, ''The Police in the House'', was published in June 1921 in ''Breezy'' magazine.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Beetz |editor1-first=Kirk H. |title=Beacham's encyclopedia of popular fiction |volume=2 |date=1996 |publisher=Beacham Publications |location=Osprey, Florida |isbn=9780933833418 |page=703}}</ref> He created many series characters for the pulps, including the ingenious Lester Leith, a parody of the "gentleman thief" in the tradition of [[A. J. Raffles]]; and Ken Corning, crusading lawyer, crime sleuth, and archetype for his most successful creation, Perry Mason. 

==Perry Mason==
The Perry Mason character was inspired by [[Earl Rogers]], a trial attorney who appeared in 77 murder trials but lost only three. He was recognized for the extensive use of demonstratives, e.g., visuals, charts and diagrams, during trial before it became common practice. Rogers is famous for his defense of, and attorney-client disagreement with, [[Clarence Darrow]], a fellow attorney who was charged with attempted jury bribery in 1912.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.triallawyerportraits.org/rogers-defends-darrow|website=triallawyerportraits.org|title=Roger defends Darrow|access-date=November 9, 2021|archive-date=May 16, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220516174626/https://www.triallawyerportraits.org/rogers-defends-darrow|url-status=dead}}</ref>

While the Perry Mason novels seldom delved deeply into characters' lives, the novels were rich in plot detail which was reality-based and drawn from his own experience.<ref name=Pierce>{{cite news|last1=Pierce|first1=J. Kingston|title='I Rest My Case: Perry Mason Still Rules in the Courtroom'|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/features/i-rest-my-case-perry-mason-still-rules-courtroom/|work=[[Kirkus Reviews]]|date=March 31, 2015|access-date=February 18, 2018|archive-date=March 28, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190328104151/https://www.kirkusreviews.com/features/i-rest-my-case-perry-mason-still-rules-courtroom/|url-status=live}}</ref> In his early years writing for the pulp magazine market, Gardner set himself a quota of 1,200,000 words a year.<ref name="Hughes"/>{{Rp|13}} Early on, he typed stories himself, using [[Hunt and peck|two fingers]], but later dictated them to a team of secretaries.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Millie|title=Erle Stanley Gardner {{!}} Millie Mack's Blog|url=https://darkandstormynightmysteries.com/wordpress/?p=1350|access-date=November 9, 2021|language=en-US|archive-date=November 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211109201510/https://darkandstormynightmysteries.com/wordpress/?p=1350|url-status=live}}</ref>

Much of the first Perry Mason novel,''The Case of the Velvet Claws,'' published in 1933, is set at the historic [[Pierpont Inn]] near Gardner's old law office in Ventura, California.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>  In 1937, Gardner moved to [[Temecula, California]], where he lived for the rest of his life. With the success of the ''Mason'' series, more than 80 novels, Gardner gradually reduced his contributions to the pulp magazines until the medium died in the 1950s. 

[[File:Gail-Patrick-Jackson-Erle-Stanley-Gardner-1966.jpg|thumb|260px|''[[Perry Mason (1957 TV series)|Perry Mason]]'' executive producer [[Gail Patrick|Gail Patrick Jackson]] (left) and Erle Stanley Gardner speak with Hollywood columnist Norma Lee Browning during filming of the last episode, "The Case of the Final Fade-Out" (1966)]]

[[Warner Bros.]] produced a series of Perry Mason feature films in the 1930s, casting a succession of actors in the Mason role: [[Warren William]] in the first four, then [[Ricardo Cortez]] and [[Donald Woods (actor)|Donald Woods]] in one film each. Warners dropped the series in 1937 but Gardner's novel ''The Case of the Dangerous Dowager'' went unfilmed until 1940: the movie version, ''[[Granny Get Your Gun]]'', retained the Perry Mason plotline but the Mason character was removed from the film entirely.

The [[Perry Mason (radio)|radio program ''Perry Mason'']] ran from 1943 to 1955. In 1954, [[CBS]] proposed transforming ''Perry Mason'' into a TV soap opera. When Gardner opposed the idea, CBS created ''[[The Edge of Night]]'', featuring John Larkin—who voiced Mason on the radio show—as a thinly veiled imitation of the Mason character.<ref name="Cox"/>{{Rp|199–201}}

In 1957, ''[[Perry Mason (1957 TV series)|Perry Mason]]'' became a long-running CBS-TV courtroom drama series, starring [[Raymond Burr]] in the title role. Burr had auditioned for the role of the district attorney [[Hamilton Burger]], but asked to read for the Mason role. Burr's performance as Mason was so intense and persuasive that Gardner, watching the screen test in a projection room, pointed at the screen and stated, "''That's'' Perry Mason."<ref>Podolsky, JD; Bacon, D. “The Defense Rests”. [http://www.perrymasontvseries.com/justine/people_magazine_article_9_27_93.htm ''People Magazine'' archive] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029192310/http://www.perrymasontvseries.com/justine/people_magazine_article_9_27_93.htm |date=October 29, 2013 }}. Retrieved August 11, 2014.</ref> Gardner made an uncredited appearance as a judge in "The Case of the Final Fade-Out" (1966), the last episode of the series.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://ctva.biz/US/Legal/PerryMason_09_%281965-66%29.htm | title=Perry Mason, Season 9 (CBS) (1965–66) | publisher=Classic TV Archive | access-date=May 2, 2015 | archive-date=October 11, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151011002357/http://ctva.biz/US/Legal/PerryMason_09_(1965-66).htm | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Kelleher |first1=Brian |last2=Merrill |first2=Diana |year=1987 |chapter=The History of the Show |chapter-url=http://www.perrymasontvshowbook.com/pmb_c213.htm |title=The Perry Mason TV Show Book |location=New York |publisher=St. Martin's Press |pages=[https://archive.org/details/perrymasontvshow00kell/page/8 8–27] |isbn=9780312006693 |access-date=May 2, 2015 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/perrymasontvshow00kell/page/8 }}</ref>{{Rp|24}}

==Gardner's other works==
Beginning in 1937 with the novel ''The D. A. Calls It Murder'', Gardner wrote a companion series reversing the format of the Mason books. The protagonist was the resolute district attorney [[Doug Selby]], battling in court against devious attorney Alphonse Baker Carr. Prosecutor Selby is portrayed as a courageous and imaginative crime solver; his antagonist Carr is a wily shyster whose clients are invariably "as guilty as hell."

In 1939, under the pen name A. A. Fair, Gardner launched a series of novels about the private detective firm [[Cool and Lam]].

After [[World War II]] Gardner also published a few short stories for the "glossies" (magazines) such as ''[[Collier's]]'', ''[[Sports Afield]]'', and ''[[Look (American magazine)|Look]]'',<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.grooviespad.com/esg/works/Bibliography.asp?genre=f&type=s |title=Erle Stanley Gardner Bibliography |publisher=Grooviespad.com |access-date=June 20, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121028122413/http://www.grooviespad.com/esg/works/Bibliography.asp?genre=f&type=s |archive-date=October 28, 2012 }}</ref> but most of his postwar magazine contributions were nonfiction articles on travel, [[American west|Western]] history, and forensic science. Gardner's readership was a broad and international one, including the English novelist [[Evelyn Waugh]], who in 1949 called Gardner the best living American writer.<ref>Stannard, Martin (1992). ''Evelyn Waugh: The Later Years 1939–1966''. W. W. Norton. p. 240. {{ISBN|0-393-03412-7}}</ref><ref>Borello, A. (1970). “Evelyn Waugh and Earl Stanley Gardner”. [http://www.abbotshill.freeserve.co.uk/EWN4-3.htm ''Evelyn Waugh Newsletter'', vol. 4, no. 3]. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131020231205/http://www.abbotshill.freeserve.co.uk/EWN4-3.htm |date=October 20, 2013 }} Retrieved October 15, 2014.</ref> He also created characters for various radio programs, including ''Christopher London'' (1950), starring [[Glenn Ford]], and ''A Life in Your Hands'' (1949–1952).<ref name="Cox">{{cite book|last=Cox|first=Jim|title=Radio Crime Fighters|date=2002|publisher=[[McFarland & Company]]|isbn=0-7864-1390-5|location=Jefferson, North Carolina}}</ref>

==Personal interests and causes==
Gardner had a lifelong fascination with [[Baja California]] and wrote a series of nonfiction travel accounts describing his extensive explorations of the peninsula by boat, truck, airplane, and helicopter.

[[File:Gardner-Court-of-Last-Resort-FE.jpg|thumb|upright|''The Court of Last Resort'' (1952) earned Gardner his only [[Edgar Award]], in the Best Fact Crime category.]]

Gardner devoted thousands of hours to the Court of Last Resort, in collaboration with his many friends in the forensic, legal, and investigative communities. The project sought to review and, when appropriate, reverse [[miscarriage of justice|miscarriages of justice]] against criminal defendants who had been convicted because of poor legal representation, abuse, misinterpretation of forensic evidence, or careless or malicious actions of police or prosecutors. The resulting 1952 book earned Gardner his only [[Edgar Award]], in the Best Fact Crime category,<ref name=interestingfacts>{{cite web|title=Interesting Facts About Erle Stanley Gardner|url=http://www.phantombookshop.com/erlestanleygardner/esgodd_.htm|publisher=Phantom Bookshop|access-date=July 11, 2012|archive-date=July 30, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120730223006/http://www.phantombookshop.com/erlestanleygardner/esgodd_.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> and was later made into a TV series, ''[[The Court of Last Resort]]''.

==Personal life==
In 1912, Gardner wed Natalie Frances Talbert (July 16, 1885 – February 26, 1968). Their only child, Natalie Grace Gardner<ref name=obit/> (January 25, 1913 — February 29, 2004), was born in Ventura, California. Gardner and his wife separated in the early 1930s, but did not divorce, and in fact their marriage lasted 56 years, until Natalie's death in 1968. After that, Gardner married his secretary, Agnes "Jean" Bethell<ref>{{cite news |date=August 9, 1968 |title=Erle Stanley Gardner Weds |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1968/08/09/archives/erle-stanley-gardner-weds.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times|New York Times]] |access-date=December 19, 2013 |archive-date=July 22, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180722185303/https://www.nytimes.com/1968/08/09/archives/erle-stanley-gardner-weds.html |url-status=live }}</ref> ([[née]] Walter; May 19, 1902 – December 5, 2002), the daughter of Ida Mary Elizabeth Walter (née Itrich; December 24, 1880 – March 3, 1961).

Through his daughter, Gardner had two grandchildren: Valerie Joan Naso (née McKittrick; August 19, 1941 – November 12, 2007) and Alan G. McKittrick.

Gardner's widow died in 2002, [[Centenarian|aged 100]], in San Diego. She was a member of [[Jehovah's Witnesses]]. She was survived by her brother, Norman Walter.

==Death==
Gardner died of cancer, diagnosed in the late 1960s,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tvusd.k12.ca.us/Page/19290#:~:text=In%20the%20late%201960's%2C%20he,his%20much-loved%20Baja%20Peninsula.|title=About Us / Who was Erle Stanley Gardner?|access-date=January 2, 2021|archive-date=August 11, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200811201659/https://www.tvusd.k12.ca.us/Page/19290#:~:text=In%20the%20late%201960's%2C%20he,his%20much-loved%20Baja%20Peninsula.|url-status=live}}</ref> on March 11, 1970, at his ranch in Temecula.<ref name=obit>{{cite news |last=Krebs |first=Albin |date=March 12, 1970 |title='The Fiction Factory': Erle Stanley Gardner, Author of the Perry Mason Mystery Novels, Is Dead at 80 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1970/03/12/archives/the-fiction-factory-erle-stanley-gardner-author-of-the-perry-mason.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=July 28, 2015 |archive-date=July 22, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180722191436/https://www.nytimes.com/1970/03/12/archives/the-fiction-factory-erle-stanley-gardner-author-of-the-perry-mason.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=March 12, 1970 |title=Erle Stanley Gardner, Author of Perry Mason Stories, Dies |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref> At the time of his death, he was the best-selling American writer of the 20th century.<ref name=obit/> He died five days after [[William Hopper]], who played private detective [[Paul Drake (character)|Paul Drake]] in the ''Perry Mason'' TV series.  Gardner was cremated and his ashes scattered over his beloved Baja California peninsula.<ref name="Hughes">{{cite book |last1=Hughes |first1=Dorothy B. |author-link1=Dorothy B. Hughes |date=1978 |title=Erle Stanley Gardner: The Case of the Real Perry Mason |location=New York |publisher=William Morrow and Company, Inc.  |isbn=0-688-03282-6  }}</ref>{{Rp|305}} The ranch, known as Rancho del Paisano at the time, was sold after his death, then resold in 2001 to the [[Pechanga]] tribe, renamed Great Oak Ranch, and eventually absorbed into the Pechanga reservation.

==Legacy==
The [[Harry Ransom Center]] at the [[University of Texas at Austin]] holds Gardner's manuscripts, art collection, and personal effects. From 1972 to 2010, the Ransom Center featured a full-scale reproduction of Gardner's study that displayed original furnishings, personal memorabilia, and artifacts.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/collections/performingarts/holdings/personaleffects/gardner/ |title=Erle Stanley Gardner Study |publisher=[[Harry Ransom Center]], [[University of Texas at Austin]] |access-date=June 26, 2016 |archive-date=January 20, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180120221454/http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/collections/performingarts/holdings/personaleffects/gardner/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> The space and a companion exhibition were dismantled, but a panoramic view of the study is available online.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/collections/performingarts/holdings/personaleffects/gardner/study/ |title=Panoramic View, Erle Stanley Gardner Study |publisher=Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas at Austin |access-date=June 26, 2016 |archive-date=May 13, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160513230111/http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/collections/performingarts/holdings/personaleffects/gardner/study/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2003, a new school in the [[Temecula Valley Unified School District]] was named Erle Stanley Gardner Middle School.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://gms.tvusd.k12.ca.us/ |title=Gardner Middle School |publisher=[[Temecula Valley Unified School District]] |access-date=July 28, 2015 |archive-date=July 17, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150717172648/http://gms.tvusd.k12.ca.us/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Kasindorf |first=Martin |date=March 20, 2003 |title=Congestion Replaces Citrus in L.A. Fringe |url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2003-03-19-la-sprawl_x.htm |newspaper=[[USA Today]] |access-date=July 28, 2015 |archive-date=March 21, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160321200619/http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2003-03-19-la-sprawl_x.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

In December 2016, [[Hard Case Crime]] published ''The Knife Slipped'', a Bertha Cool–Donald Lam mystery, which had been lost for 75 years. Written in 1939 as the second entry in the Cool and Lam series, the book was rejected at the time by Gardner's publisher.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hardcasecrime.com/books_bios.cgi?title=The%20Knife%20Slipped |title=Our Books |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |website=Hardcasecrime.com |access-date=February 17, 2017 |archive-date=November 11, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161111204636/http://www.hardcasecrime.com/books_bios.cgi?title=The%20Knife%20Slipped |url-status=live }}</ref> Published for the first time in 2016 as a trade paperback and ebook, the work garnered respectful reviews.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=The Knife Slipped |url=http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-78329-927-0 |newspaper=Publishers Weekly |date=October 3, 2016 |access-date=February 17, 2017 |archive-date=February 18, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170218063358/http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-78329-927-0 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=The Knife Slipped |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/erle-stanley-gardner/the-knife-slipped/ |newspaper=Kirkus Reviews |date=October 1, 2016 |access-date=February 17, 2017 |archive-date=February 17, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170217224005/https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/erle-stanley-gardner/the-knife-slipped/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2017, Hard Case Crime followed the publication of ''The Knife Slipped'' with a reissued edition of ''Turn On the Heat'', the book Gardner wrote to replace ''The Knife Slipped'', and published a new edition of ''The Count of Nine'' in October 2018.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://hardcasecrime.com/books_bios.cgi?entry=bk151 |title=About The Count of 9 |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |website=Hardcasecrime.com |access-date=January 15, 2018 |archive-date=January 16, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180116010000/http://hardcasecrime.com/books_bios.cgi?entry=bk151 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Works==
{{main|Erle Stanley Gardner bibliography}}

==In popular culture==
An unspecified article that Gardner wrote for ''[[True (magazine)|True]]'' magazine is referred to by [[William S. Burroughs]] in his 1959 novel, ''[[Naked Lunch]]''.<ref>{{cite book |last=MacFadyen |first=Ian|year=2009 |chapter=Dossier Four |editor1-last=Harris |editor1-first=Oliver |editor1-link=Oliver Harris |editor2-last=MacFayden |editor2-first=Ian |title=Naked Lunch at 50: Anniversary Essays |location=Carbondale |publisher=Southern Illinois University Press |page=164 |isbn=978-0-8093-2916-8}}</ref>

Gardner's name is well known among avid [[crossword puzzle]] solvers, because his first name [[Crosswordese|contains an unusual series of common letters]], starting and ending with the [[Letter frequency|most common letter of the English alphabet]], and because few other famous people have that name.  As of January 2012, he is noted for having the highest ratio (5.31) of mentions in the [[The New York Times crossword puzzle|''New York Times'' crossword puzzle]] to mentions in the rest of the newspaper among all other people since 1993.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://slideshows.slate.com/slideshow/preview/whos-the-most-crossword-famous-person-in-the-world/#slide_7 |archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20150831033153/http%3A//slideshows.slate.com/accounts/login/?next%3D/slideshow/preview/whos%2Dthe%2Dmost%2Dcrossword%2Dfamous%2Dperson%2Din%2Dthe%2Dworld/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 31, 2015 |title=The Shortz List of Crossword Celebrities |author=Gaffney, Matt |date=January 27, 2012 |access-date=February 27, 2012 |magazine=Slate }}</ref>

In 2001, [[Huell Howser]] Productions, in association with [[KCET]], Los Angeles, featured Gardner's Temecula Rancho del Paisano in ''[[California's Gold]]''. The 30-minute program is available as a VHS tape.<ref>{{OCLC|53175485}}</ref>

==References==
'''Notes'''
{{Reflist}}

'''Further reading'''
* Fugate, Francis L. and Roberta B. (1980). ''Secrets of the World's Best-Selling Writer: The Story Telling Techniques of Erle Stanley Gardner''. New York: William Morrow. {{ISBN|0-688-03701-1}}.
* Hughes, Dorothy B. (1978). ''Erle Stanley Gardner: The Case of the Real Perry Mason''. New York: William Morrow. {{ISBN|0-688-03282-6}}.
* [[Alva Johnston|Johnston, Alva]] (1947). ''The Case of Erle Stanley Gardner''. New York: William Morrow.
* Mundell, E. H. (1968). ''Erle Stanley Gardner: A Checklist''. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press. {{ISBN|0873380347}}.
* Senate, Richard L. ''Erle Stanley Gardner's Ventura: Birthplace of Perry Mason''. Ventura, California: Citation Press. {{ISBN|0-9640065-5-3}}.

==External links==
{{Commons category|Erle Stanley Gardner}}
* {{FadedPage|id=Gardner, Erle Stanley|name=Erle Stanley Gardner|author=yes}}
* [http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/collections/performingarts/holdings/personaleffects/gardner/ Erle Stanley Gardner Study] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180120221454/http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/collections/performingarts/holdings/personaleffects/gardner/ |date=January 20, 2018 }} at the [[Harry Ransom Center]], [[University of Texas at Austin]]
* [http://www.thrillingdetective.com/trivia/gardner.html Erle Stanley Gardner] at Thrilling Detective
* [http://www.detnovel.com/Gardner.html Essay on Erle Stanley Gardner] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170706015508/http://detnovel.com/Gardner.html |date=July 6, 2017 }}
* [http://www.grooviespad.com/esg/index.htm Erle Stanley Gardner pages with extensive bibliographic and other information, including pulp publications]
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=jCkDAAAAMBAJ Erle Stanley Gardner searching for lost mines] in [[Popular Science]] magazine
* [https://archive.org/details/ALifeInYourHands Episodes of ''A Life in Your Hands'', a radio program created by Gardner, in the public domain]
* [https://archive.org/details/ChristopherLondon Episodes of ''Christopher London'', a radio program created by Gardner, in the public domain]
* [http://www.bakingadgets.com/the-ricardos-bookshelf-the-d-a-takes-a-chance.html I Love Lucy, "The Black Eye", Lucy's book is The D.A. Takes a Chance] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306021832/http://www.bakingadgets.com/the-ricardos-bookshelf-the-d-a-takes-a-chance.html |date=March 6, 2016 }}
* {{cite web|last=Howser|first=Huell|title=Erle Stanley Gardner (4005)|url=http://blogs.chapman.edu/huell-howser-archives/2002/01/08/erle-stanly-gardener-californias-gold-4005/|work=California's Gold|publisher=[[Chapman University]] Huell Howser Archive|author-link=Huell Howser|date=January 8, 2002}}
{{Perry Mason}}

{{Authority control}}

{{reflist|group=nb}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gardner, Erle Stanley}}
[[Category:Erle Stanley Gardner| ]]
[[Category:1889 births]]
[[Category:1970 deaths]]
[[Category:American mystery writers]]
[[Category:20th-century American novelists]]
[[Category:California lawyers]]
[[Category:Writers from California]]
[[Category:Writers of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction]]
[[Category:Edgar Award winners]]
[[Category:Palo Alto High School alumni]]
[[Category:People from Malden, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:People from Ventura, California]]
[[Category:People from Temecula, California]]
[[Category:Perry Mason]]
[[Category:Novelists from Massachusetts]]
[[Category:American male novelists]]
[[Category:20th-century American short story writers]]
[[Category:American male short story writers]]
[[Category:Western (genre) writers]]
[[Category:20th-century American male writers]]