2/22/1930 Edward D. Hoch arrives

February 22, 1930.  On this date Edward D. Hoch was born in Rochester, New York.  He wrote more than 950 stories.  This included at least one tale in every issue of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine for an incredible 34 years.

Thirty years ago I attended an Edgars Symposium sponsored by the Mystery Writers of America.  The moderator of one panel bragged that everyone on his panel was an MWA Grand Master.  Ed Hoch immediately and politely corrected him; he had received an Edgar for Best Short Story but he had not been made a Grand Master.

I could hear astonished murmurs from the audience.  Even back then his published output was unbelievable.  In 2001 the MWA fixed their oversight.

He died, still in Rochester, in 2008.