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Cain Biographer Publishes Novel
Roy Hoopes, an award-winning James M. Cain biographer and former director of college relations at Washington College, has turned his pen to fiction. Still, his main characters are taken from the pages of history, and amid the tales of theft and murder there is the ring of truth to much of this political yarn.
Our Man in Washington throws together H. L. Mencken and his young sidekick journalist, James M. Cain, in the nation's capital as they investigate corruption in the administration of President Warren G. Harding.
"These are the best-read, most literate investigators a reader could hope to encounter-though Mencken gets all the good lines," says reviewer John W. Dean, the former counsel to President Richard Nixon who knows something of presidential scandals. "If you're not familiar with Mencken, you'll never find a better introduction, for Hoopes draws heavily on his writings. He was outrageous, droll, opinionated, an expert on everything, a philosophizer, a crank and a person who would have been a hell of a lot of fun to hang out with."
Hoopes, a career journalist in Washington, published his biography of Washington College's famous graduate, James M. Cain '10, in 1982. Cain, whose father James W. was president of Washington College between 1903 and 1918, wrote in the hard-boiled style of the 1930s and '40s. Cain is best known today for his novels that became film classics: The Postman Always Rings Twice, Double Indemnity and Mildred Pierce.
The Mystery Writers Association awarded Hoopes' book on James M. Cain an "Edgar" for Best Biography, establishing him as a noted literary biographer. Hoopes has said that Cain, like so many future generations, learned to write at Washington College.
Hoopes served as director of college relations at the College in 1985-86. Among his many books are the James M. Cain Cookbook and a biography of Ralph Ingersoll, former editor of The New Yorker and Fortune and Vice President and General Manager of Time, Inc.
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