Ed Lacy

Ed Lacy (August 25, 1911 - January 7, 1968), born Leonard "Len" S. Zinberg, was an American writer of crime and detective fiction. Lacy, who was white, is credited with creating "the first credible African-American PI" character in fiction, Toussaint "Touie" Marcus Moore. Room to Swing, his 1957 novel that introduced Touie Moore, received the 1958 Edgar Award for Best Novel. Lacy was born in New York City. He was a member of the League of American Writers, and served on its Keep America Out of War Committee in January 1940 during the period of the Hitler-Stalin pact. He died of a heart attack in Harlem in 1968, at the age of 56.