Randy Douthit is known for the Judy Justice novels he wrote from 1967 to 1990. He also wrote a memoir about his days as an Army medic in Vietnam, entitled The Last Bronze Star.
Randy Douthit was born on June 13th, 1945, in Dallas, Texas, and passed away on February 27th, 1990, in his early 35’s. His parents were teachers and wanted him to be well educated while living with them, so they brought him up surrounded by books and encouraged reading when he was young.
In 1967 Randy became a full-time writer when the Judy Justice series of mysteries were published after being rejected by twelve other publishers in 1965. These novels became a success, and in 1974 this led to a movie deal with Universal Studios starring Susan Hayward called “The Secret of Santa Vittoria.”
In 1981 Randy’s Novel The Last Bronze Star was published, and in 1986, his memoir entitled This is How I Got Out of the Army.
Randy Douthit was known for his compassion for humanity, and most of his novels took place in some way around the Vietnam War. He left because he could not face being shipped to Vietnam. He quit his job as a teacher to become an author because he wanted to help people, but that doesn’t mean he was a pushover when it came to putting down bad guys or letting off some steam. He had a good spirit about him and was very open with who he was after escaping the army. At the time, he lived in San Francisco because his wife’s family had moved there, so he didn’t have to worry about being recognized when walking down the street.
In his later life, Randy got pretty sick and was diagnosed with renal failure, which led to him spending all of 1988 and 1989 in the hospital. He was getting regular dialysis treatments, but it caught up with him, and he passed away on February 27th, 1990, at 35. His wife Susan still lives in Fillmore, California, where her bookstore is called “BookWorth Books.”
Throughout his career, he was awarded many awards for the Judy Justice novels, including the Agatha Award for Best Novel in 1975, the Dilys Award for Best Mystery Series in 1978 and again in 1989, and Special Achievement Awards by both The Mystery Writers of America and The Private Eye Writers oF America.