MARC STRANGE (1941-2012)

Marc Strange, writer and actor, has recently died after a battle with esophageal cancer. He was 70 years old. Strange was born on July 24, 1941 in Vankleek Hill (Ontario), a small town situated an hour between Ottawa and Montreal.

In the mid-’60s he started working in television, acting in programs like Rumble of Silence, Masters of our House, and Hatch’s Mill. He also appeared in a 1968 US TV-movie titled Shadow on the Land, adapted from the book It Can't Happen Here, the Sinclair Lewis bestseller from 1935. In the movie, Strange played the role of Major Shepherd McCloud opposite Jackie Cooper, Gene Hackman (in one of his last TV appearances) and John Forsythe.

Strange then obtained the leading role of the CBC show The Manipulators. And in the early ‘70s came his biggest break but it was not as an actor; he created and co-wrote The Beachcombers, with his first wife Lynn Susan. The show followed the life of a Greek-Canadian log salvager, in British Columbia. The show became the longest-running drama series of all-time at the CBC (from 1972 to 1990).

As a mystery writer, Marc Strange had success right from the start with Sucker Punch (Dundurn Press, 2007), which was nominated for the Arthur Ellis Award for best first mystery novel. His novel Body Blows (Dundurn Press) followed in 2009 and won the Edgar Allan Poe Award for best original paperback. His following books, with ECW Press, were Follow Me Down (2011) and Woman Chased By Crows (2012), and both received high praises.

Jack David, co-publisher at ECW Press, released a short statement: "ECW Press was saddened to hear of Marc’s passing. He was a fine writer of mysteries from the start, and only got better as he went along. I was very much looking forward to working with Marc on his series of books. Overall, he was a treat to work with—diligent, cooperative, receptive, and stubborn when he had to be. We will miss him, and we will miss all those books he will never get the chance to write."

Strange had also recently written a book about the 40th anniversary of The Beachcombers, which is scheduled for publication next fall.

We send our deepest condolences to Marc's family and friends.

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