Sheldon has written more than 25 best-selling thrillers and mysteries. . The Movie ’The Other Side of Midnight’ was my very first contact with this gr8 Author. Thereafter I made it a point to read every one of his well written novels and I was so enriched by my decision. Many movies were made based on his novels. He lived to a ripe old age of 89, during which his contribution to the world of fictions was a wealth beyond comparison.
Sheldon died of complications from pneumonia at Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, His wife, Alexandra, and his daughter, author Mary Sheldon, were by his side.
His memoir, The Other Side of Me, Sheldon discussed his lifelong struggle with mood swings and depression.
In this Novel he revealed that when he was 17, he armed himself with a bottle of whisky and dozens of sleeping pills and was minutes away from suicide when his father walked in and saved the day.Later, as a movie usher, he wasn’t impressed by what he saw on the screen and decided he could do better.
He moved to Hollywood, worked as one of the lowest levels in the movie business, a Reader, reviewing scripts and proposals. In his free time, he began writing his own scripts.
He won an Oscar in 1947 for his screenplay for *The Bachelor and the Bobby- While under contract to MGM, he worked like hell and it did pay off. Dore Schary who was the production head at that time gave him the break he was looking for and made him a producer."
His first novel, The Naked Face, was published in 1969. It became a best-seller.His books are mostly about women who are talented and capable, but most importantly who retain their femininity. Women have tremendous power over men using their femininity, One tends to relate to his way of thinking.
His novels that featured female characters are
The Other Side of Midnight, wherein a woman plots vengeance on a man who betrayed her.
If Tomorrow Comes, a woman seeks revenge after being convicted of a crime she did not commit. And
Rage of Angels, a female lawyer is falsely accused of being involved with organized crime.
"I love writing books, " he said. "Movies are a collaborative medium, and everyone is second-guessing you. When you do a novel you’re on your own. It’s a freedom that doesn’t exist in any other medium."
Guinness World Records *lists Sheldon as the world’s most translated author, having been published in, at last count, 51 languages in 108 nations.
Join me in saluting this Awesome Author.