Farewell to Dorothy Gilman and Mrs. Pollifax

Now that I read the serious espionage of Alan Furst and David Downing, should I be embarrassed that I cut my espionage teeth on books by both Helen MacInnes and Dorothy Gilman? No, I refuse to blush -- I had a great time with each author's books, and I'll surely read them again. What better could a reader say, especially so many years later?

So I was sad this morning to hear the news that Dorothy Gilman died on February 2. She gave us a lively, independent, 60-ish widow from New Jersey who dared to travel the world and tackle the work of being a secret agent, no matter how much older she seemed than the people giving her instructions.

Here's the Mrs. Pollifax series, which actually makes up less than half of what Gilman wrote: 

The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax (1966)
The Amazing Mrs. Pollifax (1970)  
The Elusive Mrs. Pollifax (1971)  
A Palm for Mrs. Pollifax (1973)
Mrs. Pollifax on Safari (1977)  
Mrs. Pollifax on the China Station (1983)
Mrs. Pollifax and the Hong Kong Buddha (1985)  
Mrs. Pollifax and the Golden Triangle (1988)  
Mrs. Pollifax and the Whirling Dervish (1990)
Mrs. Pollifax and the Second Thief (1993)  
Mrs. Pollifax Pursued (1995)  
Mrs. Pollifax and the Lion Killer (1996)
Mrs. Pollifax, Innocent Tourist (1997)
Mrs. Pollifax Unveiled (2000)

The New York Times obituary is here; for another view, visit the Dorothy Gilman Fan Site.

PS -- as of this writing, Kingdom Books has three books by Dorothy Gilman available.