The Sunny Orange of Friendship

June 24 was the birth date of John D. MacDonald, and if he had been around to celebrate, he would have been ninety-five years old.

John D. (for Dann) was an alumnus of Harvard and the OSS who wrote a library shelf of novels. He was best known for his Travis McGee series, twenty-one mysteries featuring the skipper of "The Busted Flush," each with a color in the title, from "The Deep Blue Goodbye" in 1964 to "The Lonely Silver Rain" in 1985.

But a more interesting (to this department) and off-beat book is "A Friendship," sub-titled "The Letters of Dan Rowan and John D. MacDonald 1967-1974." MacDonald and Rowan, co-creator of "Laugh-In," had a deep on-again, off-again, on-again friendship, and these letters chronicle that time. 

Worth looking for, in a dusty corner of the library or a good used book store.