It’s the birthday of critically acclaimed bestselling mystery/thriller author Trevanian (1931-2005), real name Rodney William Whitaker, who also wrote under several other pseudonyms to protect his privacy and as a creative way of getting into a book: he claimed he would dream up an imaginary author who would be perfect for writing a particular book, then give that author a name and pretend to be that author while writing.

So. Whatever works.

Whitaker was born in Granville, New York, studied drama at the University of Washington, and got a Ph.D. in communications from Northwestern. Whitaker ultimately became chair of the film department at the University of Texas at Austin.

Whitaker’s first two novels, The Eiger Sanction (1972; movie starring Clint Eastwood, 1975) and The Loo Sanction (1973), were called by some “pale James Bond derivatives,” but Whitaker in fact intended them as Bond spoofs. Later novels include The Main (1976), Shibumi (1979, a meta-spy novel), The Summer of Katya (1983, psychological horror), Incident at Twenty-Mile (1998), and Crazyladies of Pearl Street (2005), which last was based on Whitaker’s life. Whitaker’s mysteries are considered to be extremely well-crafted standalones, unusual in a genre that tends toward the formulaic.

Whitaker wrote nonfiction books on film under his own name and a couple of novels set in medieval times under the name Nicholas Seare. No one, in fact, seems completely sure how many pseudonyms Whitaker published under, but one thing we do know: Trevanian was not the author Robert Ludlum. Whitaker denied this persistent rumor publicly and even said, “I don’t even know who he is.” (Don’t feel too badly for Mr. Ludlum: his own thrillers have sold between 300 to 500 million copies.)

Whitaker died at 74 of pulmonary disease, survived by his wife and four children.

Have a warm and sunny Wednesday, get some brilliant work done under whatever name you’re currently using, and stay scrupulously honest to the data.