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Joseph Wambaugh, L.A. Cop Turned Novelist and Screenwriter, Dies at 88
The Hollywood Reporter ^ | February 28, 2025 | Chris Koseluk

Posted on 02/28/2025 11:22:35 AM PST by nickcarraway

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1 posted on 02/28/2025 11:22:35 AM PST by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway

RIP


2 posted on 02/28/2025 11:29:03 AM PST by Larry Lucido (Donate! Don't just post clickbait!)
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To: nickcarraway

I knew him back in the day. His books were a big hit.


3 posted on 02/28/2025 11:29:57 AM PST by rexthecat
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To: nickcarraway

RIP


4 posted on 02/28/2025 11:30:38 AM PST by laplata (They want each crisis to take the greatest toll possible.)
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To: nickcarraway

Loved and adored him as a writer. “The Blue Knight” one of my all time fave books.


5 posted on 02/28/2025 11:31:08 AM PST by Fishtalk (https://patfish.blogspot.com/)
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To: nickcarraway

Great writer. Really enjoyed his books. RIP.


6 posted on 02/28/2025 11:31:13 AM PST by Dahoser (Liz Cheney needs to work on her soccer skills so she fits in when she transfers to Guantanamo High.)
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To: nickcarraway
Even after 20 years, I still get that thrill a cop gets at seeing things that are invisible to the square citizen.
7 posted on 02/28/2025 11:31:40 AM PST by ComputerGuy ( )
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To: nickcarraway

One of my favorite passages, that I’ve used many times is the real vs the really real.

A cop comes upon a known scourge on the streets who has been shot. The “real” is he does chest compressions to save him. The really real is he is pumping the heart so the POS bleeds out faster.


8 posted on 02/28/2025 11:33:18 AM PST by llevrok (Keep buggering on!)
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To: nickcarraway

I read his “Echoes in the Darkness” during my true crime phase. Good writer.


9 posted on 02/28/2025 11:35:33 AM PST by quilterdebbie (We will endeavor to persevere!)
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To: Fishtalk

Police Story is a very good series.


10 posted on 02/28/2025 11:36:36 AM PST by wally_bert (I cannot be sured for certain, but in my personal opinion I am certain that I am not sure..)
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To: wally_bert

“Police Story is a very good series.”

But is it a series series?


11 posted on 02/28/2025 11:41:08 AM PST by Uncle Miltie (Ukraine stands as a warning that countries must sufficiently provide for their OWN defense.)
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To: nickcarraway

The man could write and most of the movies made from them were also good.


12 posted on 02/28/2025 11:58:49 AM PST by packrat35 (Pureblood! No clot shot for me!)
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To: nickcarraway

One of my favorite writers back in the day. Hard to nail down a favorite by him, but “The New Centurions” and “The Choirboys” are right up there. I grew up in LA and wanted to be a cop because of his books. The closest I got was being a military policeman in the Air Force (Security Specialist, AFSC 81150). Luckily for me, fate led me into the fire service instead. Rest in peace, Mr. Waumbaugh and thanks for all the good reads.


13 posted on 02/28/2025 12:13:32 PM PST by fidelis (Ecce Crucem Domini! Fugite partes adversae! Vicit Leo de tribu Juda, Radix David! Alleluia!)
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To: llevrok

I lived in California many years ago.

I remember back in the 1990’s when a gang banger killed another gang banger, the LAPD cops would call it an NHI killing.

NHI = No Human Involved.


14 posted on 02/28/2025 12:14:04 PM PST by july4thfreedomfoundation (Russia? China? Democrats and RINOs are the biggest threat to the survival of America.)
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To: nickcarraway

Oh man, sad news. I think I have read just about everything he wrote, fiction and nonfiction. IMHO, no one ever wrote better LAPD novels. Great characters, funny, interesting endearing, and tragic too.


15 posted on 02/28/2025 1:18:48 PM PST by Rummyfan ( In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man.)
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To: nickcarraway

RIP Joseph Wambaugh.


16 posted on 02/28/2025 1:20:04 PM PST by Rummyfan ( In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man.)
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Rest in peace Joe...

The Choirboys was a great read... the ex even liked it! Sperm whale Whalen and pressed ham in the wrapper... as comical as the book read, there was a serious side to the effects of th stress related to the job (aka PTSD).


17 posted on 02/28/2025 1:53:35 PM PST by Clutch Martin ("The dawn cracks hard like a bull whip and it ain't taking no lip from the night before" Tom Waits)
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To: nickcarraway

When I was getting ready to EOD at the Border Patrol Academy in 1985, someone gave me a copy of ‘Lines and Shadows’.

I found out just how accurate it was when I hit the field. I later worked with several agents who had been on the San Diego Bandit Team at the time the book was written.

No one would believe how violent and out of control the border was in those years. Back then the average American had never heard about the Border Patrol or what went on on the border. The media kept in under the radar.


18 posted on 02/28/2025 3:15:52 PM PST by usurper (AI was born with a birth defect.)
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To: nickcarraway

I remember thinking that movie “The Choir Boys” had some really funny parts, especially the duck in the guys locker...


19 posted on 02/28/2025 4:15:33 PM PST by rlmorel ("A people that elect corrupt politicians are not victims...but accomplices." George Orwell)
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To: Rummyfan
IMHO, no one ever wrote better LAPD novels. Great characters, funny, interesting endearing, and tragic too.

Have tried reading books by Michael Connelly?

Detective Harry Bosch worked for LAPD for many years...In his books...

20 posted on 03/02/2025 8:42:16 PM PST by L.A.Justice
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