Richard Martin Stern

Richard Martin Stern was an American novelist. Stern began his writing career in the 1950s with mystery tales of private investigators In 1959 his novel The Bright Road to Fear won the Edgar Award for Best First Novel.Stern is remembered for his 1973 novel The Tower, in which a fire engulfs a new metal-and-glass frame skyrise. Stern was inspired to write the novel by the construction of the World Trade Center in New York City. Warner Brothers bought the rights to the novel shortly after its publication for roughly $400,000, and Stern's book eventually became the movie The Towering Inferno.Stern died on October 31, 2001, after prolonged illness. He was 86.