About the Author

Stewart Sterling (1895-1976) was the pseudonym of Prentice Winchell, who also wrote under the names of Spencer Dean and Jay de Bekker. Winchell was born in Illinois and worked as a journalist.

He preferred to write about non-typical investigative bodies; such as the Fire Brigade, for instance. He was also a screenwriter and writer of radio scripts, as well as many magazine stories.

His series characters were Fire Marshal Ben Pedley and PI Gil Vine. Spencer Dean’s primary character was Don Cadee, a department store detective.