Jack D. Hunter

Jack D. Hunter (born 1921) is an American author and artist, best known for his novel, "The Blue Max", which was made into a film of the same name, "The Blue Max".

Biography

Hunter was born in Hamilton, Ohio, on June 4, 1921. Hunter was the son of a paint color evaluator at DuPont; ironically he is color blind. He graduated with BA in journalism from Penn State University in 1943. During World War II he joined the infantry, but when he could not recognize the color of flares or follow tracer bullets he was transferred to counter intelligence in a move that spared him the fate of all others in his infantry class - death on Omaha Beach during D-Day.

Because he spoke German (having taught himself and then studied it in college), Hunter was sent to Germany just after the war ended. The Allies had discovered that some high-ranking Nazis had gone underground and were waiting until the political atmosphere settled down, at which point the Nazis would infiltrate the new German government. As a 24-year-old lieutenant, Hunter, disguised as a Lithuanian black marketeer, engineered a sting called "Operation Nursery" which resulted in the arrest of over 1000 Nazis in a single night. (See "Stars & Stripes" article, March 31, 1946). He was awarded the Bronze Star.

After the war, he worked in various journalistic capacities, as a public relations executive for Dupont, and as a speech writer in Washington D.C. [ [http://www.derrittmeister.com/jhunter.htm Biography on DerRittmeiseter] ]

His first novel was "The Blue Max", and the publisher remarked that, as a new author, they would not spend the money to have an artist paint a color cover for his book. Hunter volunteered to paint it himself. Aviation art eventually became a hobby and then a part time profession. [ [http://www.jackhunter.com/bio.htm Biography on Official Site] ]

Jack D. Hunter is the author of 16 novels, with his 17th, "The Ace," scheduled for publication Oct. 1, 2008. Like "The Blue Max," which is still popular after 44 years, "The Ace" deals with World War I aviation, but focuses on the human costs and chaotic conditions that belabored the Americans in their need to build a world-class air force virtually overnight.

He now lives in St. Augustine, Florida.

Bibliography

The Bruno Stachel Series

*"The Blue Max" ISBN 0-7351-0456-5
*"The Blood Order" ISBN 0-7351-0458-1
*"The Tin Cravat" ISBN 0-7351-0454-9

*"The Expendable Spy" ISBN 0-7351-0514-6
*"One of Us Works for Them "
*"Spies, Inc"
*"The Terror Alliance" ISBN 0-7351-0511-1
*"Florida is Closed Today" ISBN 0-8439-2172-2
*"Judgement in Blood" ISBN 0-7351-0510-3
*"The Flying Cross" ISBN 0-7351-0509-X
*"The Potsdam Bluff" ISBN 0-380-75356-1
*"Tailspin" ISBN 0-7351-0513-8
*"Sweeney's Run" ISBN 0-7351-0448-4
*"Slingshot" ISBN 0-7351-0451-4
*"The Cure" ISBN 0-7653-0648-4
*"Addie" (written under the pen name "Lee Thompson" ISBN 0-7862-3364-8

External links

* [http://www.jackhunter.com Official Site]

ources

* [http://www.overthefront.com/main/index.html "Over the Front"] -- the quarterly issued by the League of WWI Aviation Historians. Volume 13, Number 3, Fall 1998. Article, "The Blue Max Revisited," by Jack D. Hunter, in which the author's autobiographical sketch tells how the novel came to be written and the impact it had on his life.

*Commendation of Commanding General to Chief, Counter Intelligence Corps, USFET, 12 April 1946, lauding Hunter's leadership of this investigation.

*A-Line stories, Associated Press and United Press, dateline Frankfurt, Germany, Sunday 31 March 1946, appearing in "Stars and Stripes" European Edition or any major US daily newspaper of that date.