For many years I had wanted to interview Otto Penzler. It wasn't something I ever thought was possible. Then I got into a conversation with the novelist Lawrence Block on Twitter and he suggested that I should try to arrange an interview with Otto. So I did. I contacted Otto's book store and mentioned my interest. They sent me Otto's e-mail address and that allowed me to begin an e-mail correspondence with him.
Otto told me he would be glad to do an interview and that my timing was good because his latest anthology; "The Big Book of Espionage" was about to be released. Then we made arrangements to talk on the phone and record our conversation for this program.
Are you familiar with Otto's career? It has been an amazing one. Here's his bio from Amazon.com:
"Otto Penzler is the proprietor of The Mysterious Bookshop (www.mysteriousbookshop.com) in New York City and is regarded as the world's foremost authority on crime, mystery and suspense fiction. He founded The Mysterious Press in 1975, which he later sold to Warner Books (1989). He reacquired the imprint in 2010 and it now publishes original books as an imprint at Grove/Atlantic, and both original works and classic crime fiction through MysteriousPress.com (www.mysteriouspress.com), in partnership with Open Road Integrated Media."
"Penzler is a prolific editor, and has won two Edgar Awards, for Encyclopedia of Mystery and Detection in 1977 and The Lineup in 2010. The Mystery Writers of America awarded him the prestigious Ellery Queen Award in 1994 and the Raven--the group's highest non-writing award--in 2003."
The Book Nook on WYSO is presented by the Greene County Public Library with additional support from Washington-Centerville Public Library, Clark County Public Library, Dayton Metro Library, and Wright Memorial Public Library.
