# Bruce Alexander Cook > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Bruce_Alexander_Cook > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Bruce_Alexander_Cook.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Alexander_Cook > Source revision: 1348860357 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|American novelist (1932–2003)}} {{for|the Australian cricketer|Bruce Cook (cricketer)}} {{Use American English|date=April 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2026}} '''Bruce Alexander Cook''' (1932 – November 9, 2003) was an American journalist and author who also wrote under the pseudonym '''Bruce Alexander''', creating historical novels about a blind 18th-century Englishman and also a 20th-century Mexican-American detective. ==Biography== Cook was born in 1932 in [Chicago](/source/Chicago). His family moved often as a child, his father being a train dispatcher with frequent new assignments. He earned a degree in literature from [Loyola University (Chicago)](/source/Loyola_University_(Chicago)).Myrna Oliver, "Bruce Cook, 71; Wrote Mysteries Set in L.A., 18th Century England," ''Los Angeles Times.'' November 18, 2003.[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-nov-18-me-cook18-story.html] His first wife was Catherine Coghlan, with whom he had three children, Catherine (Katy), Bob, and Ceci. He married concert violinist [Judith Aller](/source/Judith_Aller) in 1994."Bruce Alexander Cook, 71, Crime Writer", ''New York Times'', November 16, 2003.[https://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/16/nyregion/bruce-alexander-cook-71-crime-writer.html] He served as a translator in the U.S. Army in Frankfurt, Germany, in the late 1950s, and also did [public relations](/source/public_relations) work. He joined the editorial staff of the ''[National Observer](/source/National_Observer_(USA))'' in Washington D.C. in 1967, and covered movies, books, and music. When that newspaper folded, he became [book editor](/source/book_editor) of ''[USA Today](/source/USA_Today)'', the ''[Detroit News](/source/Detroit_News)'', and then the ''[Los Angeles Daily News](/source/Los_Angeles_Daily_News)'' (from 1984 to 1990).[http://www.thefreelibrary.com/AUTHOR,+EX-DAILY+NEWS+BOOK+EDITOR+BRUCE+COOK+DIES.-a0110087463] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081118234823/http://www.thefreelibrary.com/AUTHOR%2c+EX-DAILY+NEWS+BOOK+EDITOR+BRUCE+COOK+DIES.-a0110087463 |date=2008-11-18 }} He was a senior editor at ''[Newsweek](/source/Newsweek)''. In the meantime, he was writing as a free-lance, selling to such publications as the ''[National Catholic Reporter](/source/National_Catholic_Reporter)''. He died of a stroke November 9, 2003, in [Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center](/source/Hollywood_Presbyterian_Medical_Center), Hollywood, California. ==Books== Cook's first book was a nonfiction work, ''The Beat Generation'', published by Charles Scribner's Sons in 1971. A biography of screenwriter [Dalton Trumbo](/source/Dalton_Trumbo) followed in 1977, and in 2015 it was made into a [film by the same name](/source/Trumbo_(2015_film)). His first novel was Chicago-based ''Sex Life'', in 1978. He wrote four novels featuring Los Angeles detective Antonio "Chico" Cervantes — ''Mexican Standoff'', 1988, ''Rough Cut'', 1990, ''Death as a Career Move'', 1992, and ''Sidewalk Hilton'', 1994. He also wrote a series of novels about the blind magistrate Sir [John Fielding](/source/John_Fielding), the real-life founder of London's first police force. His later nonfiction works were ''Listen to the Blues'', a musical history, in 1973; ''Brecht in Exile'', about the German writer [Bertold Brecht](/source/Bertold_Brecht), in 1983; and ''The Town That Country Built: Welcome to [Branson, Missouri](/source/Branson%2C_Missouri)'', in 1993. His final books, published posthumously, were ''Young Will: The Confessions of William Shakespeare''[http://catdir.loc.gov/catdir/description/hol053/2004046755.html Publisher's description of ''Young Will'' via the Library of Congress.] and a Fielding book, ''Rules of Engagement'', for which his widow and writer [John Shannon](/source/John_Shannon_(novelist)) put on the finishing touches.[http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2004/12/bruce_cook_trib.php] 1.  "[Blind Justice](/source/Blind_Justice_(novel))" (1994) 323 pp. 2.  "[Murder in Grub Street](/source/Murder_in_Grub_Street)" (1995) 276 pp. 3.  "[Watery Grave](/source/Watery_Grave_(novel))" (1996) 265 pp. 4.  "[Person or Persons Unknown](/source/Person_or_Persons_Unknown_(novel))" (1997) 279 pp. 5.  "[Jack, Knave and Fool](/source/Jack%2C_Knave_and_Fool)" (1998) 279 pp. 6.  "[Death of a Colonial](/source/Death_of_a_Colonial)" (1999) 275 pp. 7.  "[The Color of Death](/source/The_Color_of_Death)" (2000) 279 pp. 8.  "[Smuggler's Moon](/source/Smuggler's_Moon)" (2001) 247 pp. 9.  "[An Experiment in Treason](/source/An_Experiment_in_Treason)" (2002) 324 pp. 10. "[The Price of Murder](/source/The_Price_of_Murder)" (2003) 257 pp. 11. "[Rules of Engagement](/source/Rules_of_Engagement_(Alexander_novel))" (2005) 288 pp. Posthumously published. == References == ==External links== * [http://brucealexandercook.com/ Author Website] * [http://januarymagazine.com/profiles/bruce.html Interview with Tom Nolan in ''January'' magazine, fall 1999.] * [http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/a/bruce-alexander/ Fantastic Fiction Author Page] {{John Fielding}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, Bruce Alexander}} Category:American mystery writers Category:American historical novelists Category:Writers of historical fiction set in the modern age Category:2003 deaths Category:1932 births Category:Novelists from Chicago Category:Loyola University Chicago alumni Category:USA Today people Category:The Detroit News people Category:Newsweek people Category:American male novelists Category:Writers of historical mysteries Category:20th-century American novelists Category:20th-century American male writers Category:Novelists from Michigan Category:20th-century American non-fiction writers Category:American male non-fiction writers Category:20th-century pseudonymous writers --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Bruce Alexander Cook](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Alexander_Cook) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Alexander_Cook?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.