Shine a light on another writer. Who's a writer you believe deserves more attention?
What a bittersweet question. Or rather my answer to it is bittersweet. But more on that in a moment.
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| Lynne Raimondo |
Let me tell you about Lynne Raimondo, a brilliant writer who richly deserves more attention. She’s the author of three wonderfully complex, smart crime novels featuring blind psychologist Mark Angelotti.
Before she became a writer, Lynne Raimondo was a trial lawyer at a major Chicago law firm, the general counsel of Arthur Andersen LLP, and the general counsel of the Illinois Department of Revenue. In case you don’t realize, those were huge jobs. In fact, Lynne handled the winding down of Arthur Andersen after the Enron and WorldCom accounting frauds in the early 2000s. A thankless job, as you might imagine, and one she feared at the time might land her name on the front page of The New York Times. Luckily, that didn’t happen. Lynne had nothing to do with the scandal that led to the Arthur Andersen collapse. She just had to clean up the mess.
When my writing career was just getting started, Lynne was the first writer I met. Our editor put us in touch via e-mail, and we hit it off immediately. She read my first book and provided me with my very first blurb. I read her wonderful novels with great enthusiasm and attention.
Her Mark Angelotti trilogy is comprised of Dante’s Wood (2013), Dante’s Poison (2014), and Dante’s Dilemma (2015). This is a remarkable series, not only compelling for its careful depiction of a blind man's daily struggles, but for its intelligence, superb plotting, and tight twists. Deeper and more complex with each episode, these three books are richly rewarding.
In the series opener, Dante's Wood, we meet Mark Angelotti, a troubled, complex character whose failings—and their consequences—have scarred him deeply. His unflinching honesty with himself (and the reader) about his sins is what opens the door for redemption in our eyes. The burden is a heavy one to bear, and his blindness may be the least of his penance. Lynne navigates the Dante (Divine Comedy) angle deftly, without beating us over the head with the irony of Mark's punishment. No heavy hand here. And, as in the Comedy, there are paths to "salvation."
Now the bitter part. Dear Lynne died unexpectedly on November 12, 2020. Five years ago, amazing award-winning writer (and super awesome friend) Lori Rader-Day phoned me to break the sad news. Lori, Lynne, and I all got our starts with the same publisher—our fellow Criminal Mind Terry Shames, too. We were a close-knit bunch, and I know Lori and Terry loved Lynne as I did. With her sharp wit and generous heart, Lynne inspired respect and love throughout our writing community.
I spoke to Lynne about three weeks before she passed away. Just chatting over the phone. Everything was fine, aside from the lingering effects of her painful bout with Lyme disease, but she was slowly feeling better. We were making plans to get together in Maine with her husband, Stanley, and my wife, who truly thought the world of Lynne. Then, a short time later when I heard the news of her death, I cursed. Felt like I’d been punched in the gut. Not fair. And unreal.
Anyone who knew Lynne knew she was incredibly talented. A great writer, lawyer, chef, and painter. She was one of the smartest people I ever met and wickedly funny, too. We traded humorous insults in our respective books. In her third novel, Dante’s Dilemma, she named (patterned) a doddering professor after me. And I returned the favor, calling a screeching soprano “La Raimondo” in my Heart Of Stone.
But more than the laughs we shared, I will always be grateful to Lynne for helping me find my moral compass. Years ago, I was faced with a difficult ethical choice in the promotion of my writing career. I felt uncomfortable participating in a certain event, and Lynne talked me through it. She helped me realize that no publicity was worth sacrificing my principles, even a small measure of my principles. She did it without preaching or arguing, and I’ll never forget her sage counsel.
Yes, Lynne was a cherished friend. But she was also a terrific writer. So, for reasons both critical and personal, I urge you to read Lynne’s three Dante novels, which deserve a lot more attention than they’ve received.
I invite anyone who knew Lynne to leave a little comment below. May her memory be a blessing.
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3 comments:
Jim, Lynne sounds like a wonderful person whom I would have loved to know. Thank you for telling us about her.
Thanks, Jim, for shining a light on a wonderful friend and writer. On the personal side, Lynne was a gourmet cook and a passionate collector of dining experiences. We had a few memorable dinners at conventions, with conversatioin often veering from the pitfalls of the publishing industry to the delight of whatever we were eating! She was a memorable, properly opinionated, and smart character and seeing her name and photo today was good.
Well, I didn’t realize we were doing this today, but I’m in for remembering and appreciating Lynne Raimondo as a writer and a person, any day.
I’ll post what I wrote for a remembrance of her after she died:
"When I first heard of Lynne Raimondo, on the website of the publisher of her first book, Dante’s Wood, I knew we were meant to be friends. The same publisher had just offered to publish my first book. In that first rush of excitement, received at my day job, I visited the publisher’s website to check them out, and there was Lynne—who lived just down the street from where I sat. Fate. We met for Indian food and did that meet-cute thing where two strangers, not knowing what the other looked like, sat at two separate tables, waiting for the other to show up.
We built a quick friendship based on books, good food, wine, laughter, and gossip. I think every friendship of Lynne’s must have been built from those same layers: good food, a Negroni, two Negronis, heartfelt conversation, honesty, laughter. None of us were ready for it to end.
As a writer, Lynne Raimondo was a fierce professional. Getting the details right meant everything. For her novels, in which the main character solves crime despite going blind, Lynne reached out to people living with eyesight deterioration and made sure that the real issues and prejudices they faced (and the active lives they lived) were included in her stories. Long before those of us in the mystery community knew her, Lynne had already proven herself a powerful figure for justice as an attorney and a passionate protector of her family, a loving wife to Stanley, a proud and loving mother to Kendra, Jacob, and Tamsin, an attentive daughter, an adventurous traveler, a talented cook, a loyal friend. She was uncompromising when it came to the quality of her work but also to the quality of her life. It was too short—Lynne had many more stories to tell, so many more of life’s adventures ahead of her. But Lynne Raimondo lived the hell out of the years she had. That feeling of loss I have, that so many people have now, like we are all sitting alone at our table waiting for Lynne to show up and make sure we order the best thing on the menu—that’s simply the lull after the life of the party has gone home."
I miss her. Thanks for writing about her, Jim. Miss you, too.
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