Sunday Favorites: The Liars' Club

While members of The Liars Club changed throughout the years, the original cast that began meeting in the 1950s included Borden Deal, Walter Farley, Joseph Hayes, MacKinlay Kantor, John D. MacDonald, and Ben Stahl. Combined, these men had published more than three hundred books, countless short stories, screenplays, and multiple Broadway musicals, according to the article "Sarasota was Home to Prolific, Famous Writers" by historian Jeff LaHurd.

 

During their meetings, the group of like-minded men enjoyed the comradery, conversation, and frequent games of Liar's Poker, a form of the game that involved holding dollar bills up to their heads while betting.

 

Here's a little more about each of the members.

 

Borden Deal (1922 - 1985) was a prolific writer who penned twenty-one novels and more than 100 short stories, many of which appeared in McCall's, Collier's, Saturday Review, and Good Housekeeping. His work was translated into twenty different languages. Three of his novels were adapted into movies including Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Wild River, and The Magical World of Disney. He lived in Sarasota until his death.

 

Venice resident Walter Farley (1915 -1989) first came to the area in 1946. He was a lifelong lover of horses and wrote his first book when he was still in high school. His Black Stallion adventure stories were international sensations, selling millions of copies. The Black Stallion was adapted into a movie in 1979. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, it received two Academy Award nominations. Disney produced another movie from one of his books, The Young Black Stallion, in 2003.

 

Novelist, playwright, producer, director, and screenwriter Joseph Hayes (1918 - 2006) was another member of the original group. Originally from Indianapolis, Ind., he began wintering in the area with his family in the 1950s. With a specialty in crime fiction, he is best known for his work "The Desperate Hours" which was originally a novel, adapted into a Tony Award-winning Broadway play, and finally converted into a movie starring Humphrey Bogart and Fredric March. Hayes had a long career creating musicals and movies and often worked with his wife Marrijane Hayes on projects. Hayes directed one of his plays, "Impolite Comedy," at Sarasota's Golden Apple Dinner Theatre, according to LaHurd.

 

MacKinlay Kantor (1904 - 1977) moved to Sarasota in 1936, already an established author. His first successful book, "Diversey," was published in 1928. Kantor, his wife Irene, and their two children lived for many years on Siesta Key. Kantor's novel "Glory for Me," was adapted into the movie "The Best Years of Our Lives and earned seven Academy Awards. His novel "Andersonville" won a Pulitzer Prize.

 

Kantor was also a civil rights activist. When Sarasota leaders pushed back on allowing black residents to use public beaches, Kantor threatened to write an article for a national publication called "Sarasota Cheats its Black Citizens." When he was threatened with a cross burning in his front yard, he promised to shoot anyone who attempted, according to LaHurd.

 

John D. MacDonald (1916 - 1986) was a was a prolific author of crime and suspense novels, many set in Florida. He moved to the area in 1951 and stayed in Sarasota for the rest of his life. One of the most successful American novelists of his time, MacDonald sold an estimated 70 million books. His best-known works include his 1957 novel The Executioners, which was filmed as Cape Fear (1962) and remade in 1991. He also wrote the critically acclaimed Travis McGee series, where McGee operated out of a houseboat called The Busted Flush, a nod to his Liars Club activities.

 

The final member was Ben Stahl (1910 -1987), another Siesta Key resident and well-known artist, illustrator, and author. His novel "Blackbeard's Ghost" was made into a Disney movie starring Peter Ustinov in 1968. The book was billed as a "hilarious rib-rattling ghost story." He also wrote "Secret of Red Skull."

 

It's no doubt that the conversations that went on at these luncheons likely inspired not only the life works of the men that attended but also the culture of the downtown Sarasota area itself. To be a fly on the wall at just one of these meetings would have been a treat in itself.