Raymond Chandler was born inChicago, Illinoison July 23, 1888, but spent most of his boyhood and youth inEngland,where he attended Dulwich College and later worked as a free-lance journalist forThe Westminster GazetteandThe Spectator.DuringWorld War I,he served inFrancewith the First Division of the Canadian Expeditionary Force, transferring later to the Royal Flying Corps (RAF). In 1919 he returned to theUnited States,settling inCalifornia,where he eventually became director of a number of independent oil companies. TheDepressionput an end to his business career, and in 1933, at the age of forty-five, he turned to writing, publishing his first stories in Black Mask. His first novel,The Big Sleep,was published in 1939. Never a prolific writer, he published only one collection of stories and seven novels in his lifetime. In the last year of his life he was elected president of theMystery Writers of America.He died inLa Jolla, California,on March 26, 1959.
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