The Associated Press reports that author and screenwriter Evan Hunter died on Wednesday, July 6, 2005. His agent said that he died of cancer of the larynx.

Born Salvatore Lombino, his name was legally changed in 1952.

Hunter wrote several hundred books under a variety of pseudonyms, including the 87th Precinct series of over 50 novels written as Ed McBain. His screenplays included The Birds and Strangers When We Meet.

Although this prolific writer’s work continued until the present, his science fiction work was penned almost exclusively in the 1950’s, and included Find the Feathered Serpent, Rocket to Luna, and Tomorrow's World. A collection of three of his 50s juvenile novels, Origins, is due out later this year.

He received The Grand Master Award from Mystery Writers of America in 1986.

Posted July 7, 2005