Stephen Hunter
Encyclopedia
Stephen Hunter is an American novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....

ist, essay
Essay
An essay is a piece of writing which is often written from an author's personal point of view. Essays can consist of a number of elements, including: literary criticism, political manifestos, learned arguments, observations of daily life, recollections, and reflections of the author. The definition...

ist, and Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...

-winning film critic
Film criticism
Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films, individually and collectively. In general, this can be divided into journalistic criticism that appears regularly in newspapers, and other popular, mass-media outlets and academic criticism by film scholars that is informed by film theory and...

.

Life and career

Stephen Hunter was born in Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...

, and grew up in Evanston, Illinois
Evanston, Illinois
Evanston is a suburban municipality in Cook County, Illinois 12 miles north of downtown Chicago, bordering Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, and Wilmette to the north, with an estimated population of 74,360 as of 2003. It is one of the North Shore communities that adjoin Lake Michigan...

. His father was Charles Francis Hunter, a Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....

 speech professor who was killed in 1975. His mother was Virginia Ricker Hunter, a writer of children's books. After graduating from Northwestern in 1968 with a degree in journalism
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...

, he was drafted for two years into the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

 as a ceremonial soldier in The Old Guard (3rd Infantry Regiment)
3rd US Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard)
The 3rd United States Infantry Regiment is a regiment of the US Army. It currently has three active battalions, and is readily identified by its nickname, The Old Guard, as well as Escort to the President. The regimental motto is Noli Me Tangere...

 in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

, and later wrote for a military paper, the Pentagon News.

He joined The Baltimore Sun
The Baltimore Sun
The Baltimore Sun is the U.S. state of Maryland’s largest general circulation daily newspaper and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries....

in 1971, working at the copy desk
Copy editing
Copy editing is the work that an editor does to improve the formatting, style, and accuracy of text. Unlike general editing, copy editing might not involve changing the substance of the text. Copy refers to written or typewritten text for typesetting, printing, or publication...

 of the newspaper's Sunday edition for a decade. He became its film critic in 1982, a post he held until moving to The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...

in the same function in 1997. In 1998 Hunter won the American Society of Newspaper Editors
American Society of Newspaper Editors
The American Society of News Editors is a membership organization for editors, producers or directors in charge of journalistic organizations or departments, deans or faculty at university journalism schools, and leaders and faculty of media-related foundations and training organizations...

 Distinguished Writing Award in the criticism category, and in 2003 he received the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism
Pulitzer Prize for Criticism
The Pulitzer Prize for Criticism has been presented since 1970 to a newspaper writer who has demonstrated 'distinguished criticism'. Recipients of the award are chosen by an independent board and officially administered by Columbia University...

.

Hunter's thriller novels include Point of Impact
Point of Impact
Point of Impact is a 1993 thriller novel by award-winning author Stephen Hunter.-Plot introduction:The plot revolves around a former Vietnam sniper named Bob Lee Swagger or Bob 'the Nailer'. This character is loosely based upon the real Vietnam sniper and Marine Corps legend Carlos Hathcock...

(filmed as Shooter), Black Light
Black Light (Novel)
-Plot summary:There are two interconnected plots that unfold simultaneously in this novel; one is set in the present, and deals with Bob Lee Swagger and Russ Pewtie, while the other is set in 1955, and deals with Bob Lee's father, Earl, and the events leading up to his death.This book catches the...

and Time to Hunt
Time to Hunt
Time to Hunt is a 1999 thriller novel, and the third in the Bob Lee Swagger series by Stephen Hunter. In narrative sequence it is preceded by Point of Impact and Black Light.-Plot summary:...

, which form a trilogy featuring Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...

 veteran and sniper
Sniper
A sniper is a marksman who shoots targets from concealed positions or distances exceeding the capabilities of regular personnel. Snipers typically have specialized training and distinct high-precision rifles....

 Bob "the Nailer" Swagger
Bob Lee Swagger
Bob Lee Swagger is a fictional character created by Stephen Hunter. He is the protagonist in a series of books that relate his life after and during the Vietnam War—Point of Impact, Black Light, Time to Hunt, The 47th Samurai, Night of Thunder, I, Sniper and, most recently Dead Zero...

. Hot Springs
Hot Springs (novel)
Hot Springs is a fictional work by Stephen Hunter, published in 2000.Hot Springs is a novel telling about gangsters and gambling in U.S. city Hot Springs, Arkansas...

, Pale Horse Coming
Pale Horse Coming
Pale Horse Coming is a novel by Stephen Hunter published in 2001. It is his second book in the series featuring the character of Earl Swagger.-Plot summary:...

, and Havana
Havana (novel)
Havana is a novel by author Stephen Hunter. The third novel in the Earl Swagger series, it was released by Simon & Schuster in 2003, and takes place in Cuba during the emergence of Fidel Castro....

form another trilogy centered on Bob Swagger's father, Earl.

Hunter has written three non-fiction books: Violent Screen: A Critic's 13 Years on the Front Lines of Movie Mayhem (1995), a collection of essays from his time at The Sun; American Gunfight (2005), an examination of the November 1, 1950 assassination attempt
Truman assassination attempt
The assassination attempt on U.S. President Harry S. Truman occurred on November 1, 1950. It was perpetrated by two Puerto Rican pro-independence activists, Oscar Collazo and Griselio Torresola, while the President resided at the Blair House. The attempt resulted in the deaths of White House Police...

 on Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...

 at Blair House
Blair House
Blair House is the official state guest house for the President of the United States. It is located at 1651-1653 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., opposite the Old Executive Office Building of the White House, off the corner of Lafayette Park....

 in Washington, D.C.; and Now Playing at the Valencia (2005), a collection of pieces from The Washington Post. Hunter has also written a number of non-film-related articles for The Post, including one on Afghanistan: "Dressed To Kill—From Kabul to Kandahar, It's Not Who You Are That Matters, but What You Shoot" (2001). The story of Bob Lee Swagger continued with The 47th Samurai
The 47th Samurai
The 47th Samurai is a 2007 thriller novel, and the fourth in the Bob Lee Swagger series by Stephen Hunter. In narrative sequence it is preceded by Point of Impact, Black Light, and Time to Hunt.-Plot:...

(2007), Night of Thunder (2008), I, Sniper
I, Sniper
I, Sniper is a novel by Stephen Hunter, published by Simon and Schuster in 2009. It is Hunter's sixth novel whose hero is Bob Lee Swagger, a U. S. Marine Corps sniper who first appears in Point of Impact which is partially set in the Vietnam War...

(2009) and Dead Zero (2010).

Hunter fires handgun
Handgun
A handgun is a firearm designed to be held and operated by one hand. This characteristic differentiates handguns as a general class of firearms from long guns such as rifles and shotguns ....

s as a hobby, saying "many people don't understand, shooting a firearm is a sensual pleasure that's rewarding in and of itself."

In an interview with NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...

 on February 16, 2011, in relation to the shooting of Gabrielle Giffords and 18 others
2011 Tucson shooting
On January 8, 2011, a mass shooting occurred near Tucson, Arizona. Nineteen people were shot, six of them fatally, with one other person injured at the scene during an open meeting that U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords was holding with members of her constituency in a Casas Adobes Safeway...

, Hunter defended the public availability of extended magazines and claimed it was not clear that the 33-round magazine used by the shooter, Jared Lee Loughner
Jared Lee Loughner
Jared Lee Loughner is an American man who is charged with the January 8, 2011 Tucson, Arizona shooting that killed six people, including Chief U.S. District Court Judge John Roll. The shooting also left 14 others injured, including U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords...

, played a part in the incident. He had previously stated in his op-ed piece in The Washington Post that extended magazines are particularly valuable for the self-defense of women and the elderly, who he said could use them effectively as an alternative to semi-automatic rifles or shotguns. He points out that "women generally don't care to put in the training needed to master [rifles and shotguns]. Nor can the elderly handle [long guns] adeptly."

Novels

Bob Lee Swagger Series:
  1. Point of Impact
    Point of Impact
    Point of Impact is a 1993 thriller novel by award-winning author Stephen Hunter.-Plot introduction:The plot revolves around a former Vietnam sniper named Bob Lee Swagger or Bob 'the Nailer'. This character is loosely based upon the real Vietnam sniper and Marine Corps legend Carlos Hathcock...

    (1993)
  2. Black Light
    Black Light (Novel)
    -Plot summary:There are two interconnected plots that unfold simultaneously in this novel; one is set in the present, and deals with Bob Lee Swagger and Russ Pewtie, while the other is set in 1955, and deals with Bob Lee's father, Earl, and the events leading up to his death.This book catches the...

    (1996)
  3. Time to Hunt
    Time to Hunt
    Time to Hunt is a 1999 thriller novel, and the third in the Bob Lee Swagger series by Stephen Hunter. In narrative sequence it is preceded by Point of Impact and Black Light.-Plot summary:...

    (1998)
  4. The 47th Samurai
    The 47th Samurai
    The 47th Samurai is a 2007 thriller novel, and the fourth in the Bob Lee Swagger series by Stephen Hunter. In narrative sequence it is preceded by Point of Impact, Black Light, and Time to Hunt.-Plot:...

    (2007)
  5. Night of Thunder (2008)
  6. I, Sniper
    I, Sniper
    I, Sniper is a novel by Stephen Hunter, published by Simon and Schuster in 2009. It is Hunter's sixth novel whose hero is Bob Lee Swagger, a U. S. Marine Corps sniper who first appears in Point of Impact which is partially set in the Vietnam War...

    (2009)
  7. Dead Zero (2010)


Earl Swagger Series:
  1. Hot Springs
    Hot Springs (novel)
    Hot Springs is a fictional work by Stephen Hunter, published in 2000.Hot Springs is a novel telling about gangsters and gambling in U.S. city Hot Springs, Arkansas...

    (2000)
  2. Pale Horse Coming
    Pale Horse Coming
    Pale Horse Coming is a novel by Stephen Hunter published in 2001. It is his second book in the series featuring the character of Earl Swagger.-Plot summary:...

    (2001)
  3. Havana
    Havana (novel)
    Havana is a novel by author Stephen Hunter. The third novel in the Earl Swagger series, it was released by Simon & Schuster in 2003, and takes place in Cuba during the emergence of Fidel Castro....

    (2003)


Ray Cruz:
  1. Soft Target (2011)


Other novels:
  • The Master Sniper (1980)
  • The Second Saladin (1982)
  • Target
    Target (1985 film)
    Target is a 1985 film directed by Arthur Penn. It stars Matt Dillon and Gene Hackman.-Plot:In Dallas, Walter Lloyd runs a lumber business. After checking out at the office, Walter stops by the local racetrack, where his college-age son Chris works repairing stock cars...

    (film novelization) (1985)
  • The Spanish Gambit (reissued as Tapestry of Spies) (1985)
  • The Day Before Midnight (1989)
  • Dirty White Boys
    Dirty White Boys
    Dirty White Boys is a vivid and violent novel by American author Stephen Hunter. The story begins with the escape of Hunter's brutal antagonist, Lamar Pye, and two other accomplices, from a penitentiary in the mid-western USA and continues as Lamar encounters highway patrol officer Bud...

    (1994)

Non-fiction

  • 1995 Violent Screen: A Critic's 13 Years on the Front Lines of Movie Mayhem
  • 2005 Now Playing at the Valencia : Pulitzer Prize-Winning Essays on Movies
  • 2005 American Gunfight : The Plot to Kill Harry Truman and the Shoot-out that Stopped It

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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