# Howard Engel
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{{Short description|Canadian mystery author and CBC producer (1931–2019)}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Howard Engel
| image = Howard Engel3.jpg
| imagesize = 200px
| caption = Engel in 2007
| pseudonym =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1931|4|2|mf=yes}}
| birth_place = [St. Catharines](/source/St._Catharines), [Ontario](/source/Ontario), Canada
| death_date = {{death date and age|2019|7|16|1931|4|2}}
| death_place =
| resting_place =
| occupation = Writer, producer
| years_active =
| genre = Mystery and non-fiction
| notableworks = ''[Benny Cooperman](/source/Benny_Cooperman)'' series
| spouse = {{ubl|{{marriage|[Marian Engel](/source/Marian_Engel)|1962|1978|end=div}}|Janet Hamilton}}
| children = 3
}}
'''Howard Engel''' [CM](/source/Order_of_Canada) (April 2, 1931 – July 16, 2019) was a [Canadian](/source/Canadians) [mystery](/source/Mystery_fiction) author and [CBC](/source/Canadian_Broadcasting_Corporation) producer who resided in [Toronto](/source/Toronto), [Ontario](/source/Ontario). He was famous for his [Benny Cooperman](/source/Benny_Cooperman) detective series, set in the [Niagara Region](/source/Regional_Municipality_of_Niagara%2C_Ontario) in and around the city of Grantham, Ontario, mirroring [St. Catharines](/source/St._Catharines), [Ontario](/source/Ontario), where he was born. He was one of the founding authors of [Crime Writers of Canada](/source/Crime_Writers_of_Canada) in 1982.[{{cite news |last=Black |first=Debra |url=https://www.thestar.com/article/184023 |title=Order of Canada recipients |publisher=[The Toronto Star](/source/The_Toronto_Star) |date=2007-02-21 |page=A12| accessdate=2007-02-21}}]
==Personal life==
From 1962 to 1978 he was married to [Marian Engel](/source/Marian_Engel),[{{Cite news |last=Levin |first=Martin |date=2019-08-02 |title=Pioneering Canadian mystery writer Howard Engel lost the ability to read, but didn't let that stop him |language=en-CA |work=The Globe and Mail |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books/article-pioneering-canadian-mystery-writer-howard-engel-lost-the-ability-to/ |access-date=2022-07-20}}] a noted Canadian author of literary fiction, who died in 1985. They had two children,[{{Cite web |title=Howard Engel: Man of mystery |url=https://www.everythingzoomer.com/style/home-garden/2006/01/01/howard-engel-man-of-mystery/ |access-date=2022-07-20 |website=www.everythingzoomer.com |language=en}}]{{when|date=September 2020}} The couple have one son,{{citation needed |date=August 2021}} Jacob Engel, born in 1989.
In 2001, he unknowingly suffered a [stroke](/source/stroke) that left him with [alexia](/source/alexia_(acquired_dyslexia)) sine [agraphia](/source/agraphia), a condition that prevented him from understanding written words without a major effort without affecting his ability to write.[[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b012b42j The Man Who Forgot How To Read And Other Stories at bbc.co.uk]] He was later able to write a new novel, ''Memory Book'' (2005), in which his character Benny Cooperman suffers a blow to the head and is similarly affected.{{citation needed |date=August 2021}} He later published ''The Man Who Forgot How To Read'' (2007), a memoir of the time he spent recovering from the stroke, with an afterword by [Oliver Sacks](/source/Oliver_Sacks) (who wrote about Engel's reading problems in the book ''[The Mind's Eye](/source/The_Mind's_Eye_(Sacks_book))''), and another novel, ''East of Suez'', in 2008.[{{cite web | url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=92875639 | title=Howard Engel: 'The Man Who Forgot How To Read' | publisher=[NPR](/source/NPR) | work=[Talk of the Nation](/source/Talk_of_the_Nation) | date=July 24, 2008 | accessdate=August 21, 2015 | author=Conan, Neal | authorlink =Neal Conan}}]
In February 2007, Engel was appointed a [Member of the Order of Canada](/source/Order_of_Canada),{{citation needed |date=August 2021}} receiving it at the 100th investiture. In 2013, Engel received a [Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee medal](/source/Queen_Elizabeth_II_Diamond_Jubilee_medal).[{{cite web | url=https://www.saultstar.com/news/local-news/crime-writer-engel-started-in-sault | title=Crime writer Engel started in Sault | date=July 26, 2019 | accessdate=August 21, 2015 | author= Kelly, Brian}}] He died in Toronto on July 16, 2019, of pneumonia that arose from a stroke, at the age of 88.