Erle Stanley Gardner, author of the Perry Mason novels (John Atherton photo)
Think of the fictional private investigator/lawyer Perry Mason, and chances are you know he’s a Los Angeles-based character created by the writer and novelist Erle Stanley Gardner.
Gardner (1889-1970) was not a Texan. He was born in Massachusetts and eventually settled in California. Yet to learn more about the man and how he became a successful writer, one only has to visit Austin, where his papers are at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas.
Gardner became a lawyer before becoming a writer. He drew upon his legal experiences, a network of writers and editors, and other specialists (including his brother, a doctor in San Francisco) to create Mason.
Gardner’s first Mason novel, The Case of the Velvet Claws, appeared in 1933. According to Secrets of the World’s Bestselling Writer: The Storytelling Techniques of Erle Stanley Gardner (Graymalkin Media, 2014), Gardner knew many of his readers were also lawyers, and he would circulate his manuscripts among some of them to check for accuracy.
To maintain a strong writing output, Gardner kept lots of notes and files. In an era before personal computers, he wrote his manuscripts using a typewriter. In later years, he dictated his work to secretaries (a practice also used by Theodore Roosevelt and Winston Churchill).
According to the book, in 1960, UT Chancellor Harry Huntt Ransom was looking for literary collections to add to the university’s holdings. Ransom was a mystery fan. Gardner was at the height of his popularity. One of the university’s regents, Dr. Merton Minter, was a friend of Gardner’s.
Minter reached out to Gardner, who immediately agreed to make the donations, which today are open to researchers and scholars.
Actor Raymond Burr, right, played Perry Mason in the long-running CBS television series. Actor William Hopper, left, played private investigator Paul Drake (public domain photo)
Gardner donated more than 36 million items. These items include correspondence, files, galley proofs, manuscripts, notebooks, notes, personal effects, scrapbooks, souvenirs, and voice recordings.
Gardner even donated everything in his study, which the university used to stage a reproduction at the center. This room was disassembled in 2010, but not before the university posted an interactive panorama picture.
In 1957, CBS created a courtroom TV drama around the Mason character. The series ran until 1966 and remains in syndication today.
Raymond Burr (1917-1993), played Mason. Barbara Hale, who died last month, played Mason’s loyal assistant, Della Street. Burr and Hale resurrected their roles in a number of made-for-television movies in later years.
Through Gardner’s papers and personal effects, Perry Mason has a place in Austin’s vibrant writing and publishing scene.
