Dates

• Existence: 1948-

Biography

Max Allan Collins, a life-long resident of Muscatine, Iowa, was born on March 3, 1948. As a child, he first dreamed of becoming a cartoonist; later he discovered mystery novels and decided that what he really wanted to be was a mystery writer. Collins sent out his first literary manuscript when he was in the 9th grade. He graduated from Muscatine Community College in 1968. He was in both the undergraduate and graduate Writers' Workshop at the University of Iowa, receiving his B.A. in 1970, and his M.A. two years later. His first three novels were written while he was in the Writer's Workshop. His M.A. thesis, Bait Money, was revised and became his first published book. He has since published over fifty novels and has written such movie tie-in novels as Maverick, Waterworld, and In the Line of Fire.   When Chester Gould, the creator of the Dick Tracy comic strip, retired in 1977, Max Allan Collins was able to combine his two lifetime passions. For some years, he wrote the Dick Tracy series, which appeared in more than 500 newspapers. He also writes a comic series called Ms. Tree. Collins is an avid collector of comic strip art and related items.

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