Perry Mason author's career will be topic for SAGE Society
Mindy Johnson of the Temecula Valley Museum will present “The Life and Career of Erle Stanley Gardner” when the SAGE Society of Hemet meets Tuesday in the Ramona Room behind Miller-Jones Mortuary, 1501 W. Florida Ave., Hemet.
Johnson’s program about Gardner, who lived in Temecula and was the author of the Perry Mason mysteries, originally was developed by the late Steve Williamson of the Temecula Valley Historical Society, according to a news release.
Johnson became interested in history while living in Fremont, where she volunteered as a docent at a local museum. When she and her husband moved to the Temecula area, she joined the Temecula Valley Historical Society. She also became a volunteer docent at the Temecula Valley Museum and recently took on a part-time position at the museum, according to the news release.
Johnson’s program will cover Gardner’s life from his early years as a boxer and his law practice beginning in Merced to his writing career, which began in the 1920s with stories for magazines.
Gardner’s fictional lawyer Perry Mason debuted in 1933 with two stories, “The Case of the Velvet Claws” and “The Case of the Sulky Girl,” and the first Perry Mason film, “The Case of the Howling Dog,” was made in 1934.
A Perry Mason radio show on CBS moved to television in 1957 and ran through 1966, starring Raymond Burr as Perry Mason.
Gardner died in 1970, at his home, Rancho del Paisano, in Temecula, and his last Perry Mason mystery, “The Case of the Postponed Murder,” was published in 1973.
The public is welcome to attend the program. Social time begins at 1:30 p.m., followed by the presentation at 2 p.m.