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Edward Bunker |
 | Edward Bunker was born in Hollywood, California, in the 1930s, amid a violent storm. His father was a stage hand, and his mother a Busby Berkely chorus dancer. Edward's parents split up when he was just for years old, and thereafter he was destined to live in a string of boarding homes. Unable to tolerate authority, from the age of five Bunker began running away and roaming the streets at night, becoming adept at hiding out, thieving and was capable of looking out for himself. Whenever he was eventually picked up, he was moved to tougher and tougher boarding homes, where he suffered ritual beatings and sadistic punishment in all but one. Eventually, his repeated altercations with authority led to him becoming San Quentin Prison's youngest ever inmate at the age of seventeen. The tough prison regime taught Bunker how to survive when confronted with some of America's most hardened criminals, yet because of his high IQ (152) he found relief from the unrelenting prison atmosphere in books. Bunker also garnered an unlikely patron during his stints inside. Mrs Louise Wallis, wife of millionaire Hollywood director Hal Wallis, had an altruistic mission to help wayward teenagers, and she befriended Bunker, buying him a typewriter for him to use in prison, and giving him jobs on her estate in between his prison terms. A parole violation led to Bunker fleeing authority and becoming one of the FBI's ten most wanted fugitives. After he was eventually caught and sent to Folsom Prison, Bunker made a significant decision and, encouraged by the example of the likes of Dostoyevsky and Cervantes, determined to write his way out of prison. It took 17 years, six novels and over one hundred short stories before Bunker's first book was published. 'No Beast So Fierce' was released to critical acclaim, and has been described by many, including Quentin Tarantino, as the finest crime novel ever written. Bunker has written three other novels and an autobigraphy. |
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