Mary Higgins Clark, "Queen of Suspense," to Speak at UB

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Mary Higgins Clark, best-selling author known as the "Queen of Suspense," will speak at 8 p.m. Nov. 16 in the Mainstage Theatre in the Center for the Arts on the North Campus as part of UB's Distinguished Speaker Series.

Clark is the best-selling female suspense writer in the United States, with more than 46 million copies of her books in print.

The Distinguished Speakers Series is presented by UB and the Don Davis Auto World Lectureship Fund. Series sponsor is the Student Association. The Office of Special Events is sponsoring the Clark Lecture.

The series will continue with lectures by basketball broadcaster Dick Vitale on Dec. 5 and Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Doris Kearns Goodwin on April 26.

Born and raised in New York City, Clark credits her Irish ancestry as an important influence on her writing, saying "The Irish are, by nature, storytellers."

Left a young widow with five children by the death of her husband, Warren Clark, from a heart attack in 1964, she went to work writing radio scripts. She also decided to write books, getting up every day at 5 a.m. and writing until 7 a.m., when she had to get her children ready for school.

Her first book was a biographical novel about the life of George Washington, "Aspire to the Heavens."

Her second, the suspense novel "Where Are the Children?," became a bestseller and marked a turning point in her life and career.

The author of more than 20 best-sellers, Clark has had two of her novels made into feature films and nine adapted for television. Her books include "All Through the Night," "You Belong to Me," "A Stranger is Watching" and the current best-seller, "Before I Say Good-Bye."

For ticket information for the Clark lecture and the rest of the Distinguished Speakers Series, contact the Center for the Arts box office at 645-ARTS.