Barbara Michaels
The mid-twentieth century saw a growing presence of academically trained writers working within popular fiction genres, bringing specialist knowledge to narrative forms that had not always accommodated it. Barbara Louise Mertz, born on September 29, 1927, in Canton, was a writer, novelist, crime fiction writer, Egyptologist, and archaeologist who published under two professional pseudonyms throughout her career.
Mertz was educated at Oak Park and River Forest High School before attending the University of Chicago. A United States citizen writing in English, she published fiction under the names Elizabeth Peters and Barbara Michaels, the latter being the name under which the Library of Congress catalogues her work. Her professional identity thus encompassed both Egyptology and archaeology alongside a sustained output of crime fiction novels. She died on August 8, 2013, in Frederick.
The two pseudonyms she used — Elizabeth Peters and Barbara Michaels — allowed her to maintain distinct bodies of work within crime fiction while the underlying author remained a single individual trained in Egyptology and archaeology. Her novels, produced under both names, were written in English and directed at readers of crime fiction over a long span of years. The Library of Congress authorized label, "Michaels, Barbara, 1927-2013," reflects the professional identity most formally associated with her in bibliographic records.
The crime fiction community recognized Mertz's work through several formal honors. She received the Agatha Award for Best Novel, an Anthony Award, and The Grand Master. These three awards, granted by organizations within the crime and mystery writing field, mark the critical standing she achieved as a novelist working under the name Barbara Michaels and its companion pseudonym. It is on these specific honors, rather than any broader characterization, that her standing within the genre rests most concretely.
Quotes by Barbara Michaels
The difference between a scientist and a fanatic is that the scientist discards his theory if the evidence doesn’t confirm it. The fanatic twists the evidence to fit the theory.
Any writer who waits for inspiration to strike will never finish a book. Inspiration is all very well but it will never replace sheer dogged determination.
Bruce ate a mouthful of eggs and meditated. 'I wonder how many of the great heroes of history would turn out to be a slow runner, if you ever investigated the circumstances.
Probe deeply enough, under the slickest façade of confidence, and you tapped a vein of self-doubt or a hidden fear. Irrational fears and baseless doubts, many of them, but that was precisely why constant reassurance was necessary to the human animal.
