honors David Goodis
David Goodis wrote under the name Logan Claybourne. He grew up in the Philadelphia neighborhood of Logan.
On November 16, 2006, Councilman Jack Kelly introduced a Resolution honoring David Goodis. The Resolution passed unanimously. The Resolution was presented at GoodisCON on January 6 and is on deposit at the Goodis Archives at Temple University's Paley Library. .
RESOLUTION
Recognizing Philadelphia noir novelist David Goodis
WHEREAS, David Goodis was born March 2, 1917 and was
raised in Logan; and
WHEREAS, David Goodis graduated from the General David
Bell Birney Elementary School, Jay Cooke Junior High
School, Simon Gratz High School, and Temple
University; and
WHEREAS, David Goodis began a remarkable career in New
York as an advertising and radio writer, and moved to
Hollywood, during World War II; and
WHEREAS, David Goodis gained national attention with his
novel Dark Passage, which was made into a movie starring
Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall; and
WHEREAS, after a contract with Warner Brothers as a
screenwriter, David Goodis returned to Philadelphia in the
early 1950's and settled in East Oak Lane; and
WHEREAS, David Goodis began the most productive stage of
his writing career as a noir novelist, writing some 15
novels and a score of short stories, many of which were set
in Philadelphia, particularly in Port Richmond, the
Tenderloin, Southwark, and the Delaware River front; and
WHEREAS, David Goodis' novel The Burglar, was made into
a movie by
Paul Wenkos and starred Jayne Mansfield; and
WHEREAS, the French film maker Francois Truffaut adapted
David Goodis' novel "Down There" into the movie "Shoot the
Piano Player" starring Charles Aznavour; and
WHEREAS, David Goodis died on January 7, 1967 at Albert
Einstein Medical Center; and
WHEREAS, in observance of the 40th anniversary of his
death and in honor of his literary contributions, the works
and life of David Goodis are being celebrated at GoodisCON,
a writers symposium, January 5, 6, and 7 in
Philadelphia; NOW THEREFORE BE IT
RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, that
we hereby note with pride the literary accomplishments of
native son David Goodis.
Lunch
courtesy of Yards Brewery. Photo by Louis Boxer.
Greg
Gillespie of Port Richmond Books provided reading
matter. Photo by Louis Boxer.
GoodisCon. Photo by Louis
Boxer.