Raymond AlbertKroc was an American businessman. He joined the California company McDonald's in 1954, after the McDonald brothers had franchised nine locations out from their original 1948 operation in San Bernardino. This set the stage for national expansion with the help of Kroc, eventually leading to a global franchise, making it the most successful fast food corporation in the world. Kroc was included in Time 100: The Most Important People of the Century, and amassed a multi-million dollar fortune during his lifetime. He owned the San Diego Padres baseball team from 1974 until his death in 1984.
John Dann MacDonald was an American writer of novels and short stories, known for his thrillers.
Travis McGee is a fictional character, created by American mystery writer John D. MacDonald. McGee is neither a police officer nor a private investigator; instead, he is a self-described "salvage consultant" who recovers others' property for a fee of 50%. McGee appeared in 21 novels, from The Deep Blue Good-by in 1964 to The Lonely Silver Rain in 1984. In 1980, the McGee novel The Green Ripper won a National Book Award in a one-year Mystery category. All 21 books have the theme of a color in the title, one of the earliest examples of detective/mystery fiction series to have a 'title theme'
"Eleanor Rigby" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1966 album Revolver. It was also issued on a double A-side single, paired with "Yellow Submarine". The song was written primarily by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney.
The Deep Blue Good-by is the first of 21 novels in the Travis McGee series by American author John D. MacDonald.
Nightmare in Pink is the second novel in the Travis McGee series written by John D. McDonald. It was published concurrently with the first book in the series, The Deep Blue Good-by. In Nightmare in Pink, McGee is asked by a friend from his military days to help his sister Nina in the investigation of her fiancé's death and the large sum of money involved. The book's title is a reference to the inclusion of hallucinogenic drugs as a plot device in the climax. Much of the action takes place in New York City and upstate New York, a departure from McGee's usual haunts in Florida.
Sir James Paul McCartney is an English singer, songwriter, musician, and record and film producer who gained worldwide fame as co-lead vocalist and bassist for the Beatles. His songwriting partnership with John Lennon remains the most successful in history. After the group disbanded in 1970, he pursued a solo career and formed the band Wings with his first wife, Linda, and Denny Laine.
A Purple Place for Dying (1964) is the third novel in the Travis McGee series by John D. MacDonald.
The Quick Red Fox (1964) is the fourth novel in the Travis McGee series by John D. MacDonald. In it, McGee is hired to aid a fictitious Hollywood star named Lysa Dean who is being blackmailed with revealing photographs.
A Deadly Shade of Gold (1965) is the fifth novel in the Travis McGee series by John D. MacDonald. The plot revolves around a solid gold Aztec statuette, and takes McGee from his home of Florida to Mexico and Los Angeles. The cover bills this novel as a "double-length adventure" and is about twice as many pages as the previous Travis McGee novels.
Bright Orange for the Shroud (1965) is a sixth novel in the Travis McGee series by John D. MacDonald. The plot follows McGee as he attempts to salvage the money of friend Arthur Wilkinson after the man is defrauded in a semi-legal confidence scheme involving a land deal.
Darker than Amber (1966) is the seventh novel in the Travis McGee series by John D. MacDonald. The plot begins when McGee and his close friend Meyer are fishing underneath a bridge and a young woman, bound and weighted, is thrown over the bridge. It was adapted into a 1970 film of the same name.
Pale Gray for Guilt (1968) is the ninth novel in the Travis McGee series by John D. MacDonald. The plot revolves around McGee's investigation into the death of his close friend Tush Bannon, who he suspects has been murdered because of his refusal to sell his waterfront property to developers. In terms of series continuity, Pale Gray for Guilt is particularly important in that it involves a love interest, Puss Killian, who is central to the final book: The Lonely Silver Rain.
The Girl in the Plain Brown Wrapper (1968) is the tenth novel in the Travis McGee series by John D. MacDonald. The plot focuses on McGee's investigation of a beautiful young woman who is mysteriously losing her mind without any apparent physical or mental disease. Along the way, he discovers various troubling facets to the small Florida town where she resides.
Dress Her in Indigo (1969) is the eleventh novel in the Travis McGee series by John D. MacDonald.
The Long Lavender Look (1970) is the twelfth novel in the Travis McGee series by John D. MacDonald. After the preceding book, Dress Her in Indigo, which was largely set in Mexico, The Long Lavender Look not only returns to McGee's usual haunt of Florida, but is almost entirely set in one tiny town deep in the rural part of the state.
The Turquoise Lament (1973) is the fifteenth novel in the Travis McGee series by John D. MacDonald. It focuses on McGee's involvement with an old acquaintance, Pidge, who believes her husband Howie Brindle is trying to kill her to acquire her considerable inheritance. It takes place primarily in Hawaii and other Pacific Rim islands, particularly American Samoa.
The Dreadful Lemon Sky (1975) is the sixteenth novel in the Travis McGee series by John D. MacDonald. It is the 87th novel in The Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time as compiled by the Mystery Writers of America.
The Empty Copper Sea (1978) is the seventeenth novel in the Travis McGee series by John D. MacDonald. In it, McGee looks into the apparent drowning of Hub Lawless in a boating accident. His $2 million insurance policy leads some to believe he has faked his death.
Cinnamon Skin (1982) is the twentieth novel in the Travis McGee series by John D. MacDonald. Like a few other books in the series, McGee ends up traveling to Mexico to solve a crime. His friend Meyer's niece is killed by a bomb on the John Maynard Keynes, Meyer's houseboat, with two other people. As Meyer and McGee investigate the explosion, they discover her husband, Evan Lawrence, did not die, and instead had a dark and dangerous past.
