Walter Tevis

Walter Tevis is a beloved American author who has written eight books and had numerous short stories, plays, poems, and screenplays produced. He is best known for his classic works The Hustler, The Man Who Fell to Earth (which inspired the iconic 1976 film adaptation), and The Color of Money (which was adapted by Martin Scorsese in 1986). He is widely acclaimed as one of the greatest novelists of the 20th century, as his books have been translated into more than 20 languages and sold millions of copies worldwide.

Born in 1928 in San Francisco, California, Tevis was a voracious reader who had a natural talent for writing. Though he had no formal training, he began submitting stories to local newspapers and magazines as a teenager. By the time he was 18, he had already published several short stories and secured a contract to write a novel, The Big Crowd (1959).

The Big Crowd was Tevis’s debut novel and marked the beginning of his successful writing career. Other novels quickly followed, including The Hustler (1959), which brought him renown and earned him his first Oscar nomination. This was followed by The Man Who Fell to Earth (1963), the sci-fi novel that was adapted into a classic film starring David Bowie; and The Queen’s Gambit (1983), which was adapted into a popular 2020 Netflix miniseries.

Tevis was a master at weaving dramatic suspense stories, often incorporating science fiction and fantasy elements into his tales. He often tackled difficult topics such as addiction, mental illness, and violence, utilizing his sharp observations and deep empathy to tell stories that were both entertaining and thought-provoking, causing readers to reassess their beliefs. Tevis’s characters are complex and flawed, yet strangely relatable, and his writing has been praised for its effortless prose and engrossing plotting.

Though Tevis was a prolific writer, his fame was relatively short-lived and he often suffered from difficulties in his personal life. He was a Navy veteran, and battled alcoholism for much of his life. He died of lung cancer in 1984, at the age of 56.

Though he is gone, Tevis’s legacy will continue in the form of his classic books and adaptations. His writing speaks to the power of the human spirit and reminds us of the resilience of the human heart. His books are an enduring testament to his brilliance, and they will continue to captivate readers for generations to come.