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{{Infobox Writer <!-- for more information see [[:Template:Infobox Writer/doc]] -->
rfgdfhdfghfdgfdg
| name = Mary Higgins Clark
| image = MaryHigginsClark.jpg
| pseudonym = Mary Higgins Clark
| birthname = Mary Theresa Eleanor Higgins
| birthdate = {{Birth date and age|1927|12|24}}
| birthplace = [[Bronx, New York]], [[New York]], [[United States|USA]]
| deathdate =
| deathplace =
| occupation = novelist
| nationality = American
| ethnicity =
| citizenship =
| education =
| alma_mater =
| period = 1975 - present
| genre = suspense, mystery, psychological thriller
| subject =
| movement =
| notableworks =
| spouse = Warren Clark (1949-1964)<br>John J. Conheeney (1996-present)
| partner =
| children = 5 ([[Carol Higgins Clark]])
| relatives =
| influences =
| influenced =
| signature = Mary higgins clark signature.png
| awards =
}}
'''Mary Theresa Eleanor Higgins Clark Conheeney''' (née '''Higgins'''; born December 24, 1927 in the [[Bronx, New York]]), known professionally as '''Mary Higgins Clark''', is an [[United States|America]]n [[author]] of [[psychological thriller|suspense novels]]. Each of her forty-two books have been a [[bestseller]] in the United States and various [[Europe|European countries]], and all of her novels remain in print as of 2007, with her debut suspense novel, ''Where Are The Children'', in its seventy-fifth printing.<ref name="welch" >{{cite web | last = Welch | first = Dave | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Mary Higgins Clark Reveals: "Pan Am was the airline." | work = | publisher =Powells.com | date = May 13, 1999 | url =http://www.powells.com/authors/higginsclark.html | doi = | accessdate = 2007-02-12 }}</ref> She is a minority owner of the [[New Jersey Nets]].

Higgins Clark began writing at an early age. After several years working as a [[secretary]] and [[copy editor]], Higgins Clark spent a year as a [[flight attendant|stewardess]] for [[Pan American World Airways|Pan-American Airlines]] before leaving her job to marry and start a family. She supplemented the family's income by writing short stories. After her husband died in 1964, Higgins Clark worked for many years writing four-minute radio scripts, until her agent convinced her to try writing novels. Her debut novel, a fictionalized account of the life of [[George Washington]], did not sell well, and she decided to leverage her love of mystery/suspense novels. Her suspense novels became very popular, and as of 2007 her books have sold more than 80 million copies in the United States alone.<ref name="simon" >{{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Mary Higgins Clark | work = | publisher = Simon and Schuster | date = | url = http://www.simonsays.com/content/destination.cfm?tab=1&pid=352932&agid=13 | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-02-12 }}</ref>

Her daughter, [[Carol Higgins Clark]], is also a suspense writer.

==Early life==
Mary Theresa Eleanor Higgins was born December 24, 1927,<ref name="bruns" >{{cite web | last = Bruns | first = Ann | title = Mary Higgins Clark Bio | work = bookreporter.com | publisher =The Book Report, Inc | date = May 5, 2000 | url = http://www.bookreporter.com/authors/au-clark-mary-higgins.asp | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2009-07-04}}</ref> the second child and only daughter of Irish immigrant Luke Higgins and his wife Nora, who was of Irish descent.<ref name="pg16">Higgins Clark, ''Kitchen Privileges'', pp. 16&ndash;17.</ref> Higgins Clark arrived less than nineteen months after the birth of her older brother, Joseph, and her younger brother Johnny followed three years later.<ref name="pg1">Higgins Clark, ''Kitchen Privileges'', p. 1.</ref> Even as a small child Higgins Clark was interested in writing, composing her first poem at age six and often crafting short plays for her friends to enact.<ref name="levitsky" >{{cite web | last = Levitsky | first = Jennifer | authorlink = | coauthors = Niloufar Motamed | title = Mary Higgins Clark Interview | work = | publisher =Book Reporter | date = April 21, 1998 | url =http://www.teenreads.com/authors/au-clark-mary.asp | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-02-12 }}</ref> She began keeping a journal when she was seven, noting in her very first entry that "Nothing much happened today."<ref name="Clark, p. 13">Higgins Clark, ''Kitchen Privileges'', p. 13.</ref>

The family lived off the profits of their Irish pub and were fairly well-off, owning a home in [[the Bronx]] as well as a summer cottage on [[Long Island Sound]].<ref name="pg2">Higgins Clark, ''Kitchen Privileges'', p. 2.</ref><ref>Higgins Clark, ''Kitchen Privileges'', p. 18.</ref> Although the [[Great Depression]] began when Higgins Clark was still a baby, her family was initially not affected, and even insisted on feeding the men who knocked on their door looking for work.<ref>Higgins Clark, ''Kitchen Privileges'', p. 3.</ref> By the time Higgins Clark was ten, however, the family began to experience financial trouble, as many of their customers were unable to pay the tabs they had run up.<ref name="Clark, p. 13"/> Higgins Clark's father was forced to lay off several employees and work longer hours, spending no more than a few hours at home each day. The family was thrown into further turmoil in 1939, when young Mary returned home from an early [[Catholic Mass|Mass]] to discover that her father had died in his sleep.<ref name="pg16" />

Nora Higgins, now a widow with three young children to support, soon discovered that few employers were willing to hire a 52-year-old woman who had not held a job in over fourteen years.<ref>Higgins Clark, ''Kitchen Privileges'', p. 20.</ref> To pay the bills, Higgins Clark was forced to move out of her bedroom so that her mother could rent it out to paying boarders.<ref>Higgins Clark, ''Kitchen Privileges'', p. 24.</ref>

Six months after their father's death, Higgins Clark's elder brother cut his foot on a piece of metal and contracted severe [[osteomyelitis]]. Higgins Clark and her mother prayed constantly for him, and their neighbors came en masse to give blood for the many transfusions the young boy needed. Despite the dire predictions of the doctors, Joseph Higgins survived. Higgins Clark credits his recovery to the power of their prayers.<ref>Higgins Clark, ''Kitchen Privileges'', p. 32.</ref>

When Higgins Clark graduated from Saint Francis Xavier Grammar School she received a scholarship to continue her education at the Villa Maria Academy, a school run by the nuns of the Congregation de Notre Dame de Montreal.<ref>Higgins Clark, ''Kitchen Privileges'', pp. 2, 37.</ref> There, the principal and other teachers encouraged Higgins Clark to develop her writing, although they were somewhat less than pleased when she began spending her class time writing stories instead of paying attention to the lesson.<ref name="levitsky"/> At sixteen Higgins Clark made her first attempt at publishing her work, sending an entry to ''[[True Confessions (magazine)|True Confessions]]'' which was rejected.<ref name="welch"/>

To help pay the bills, she worked as a switchboard operator at the Shelton Hotel, where she often listened in to the residents' conversations. In her memoir she recalls spending much time eavesdropping on [[Tennessee Williams]], but complained that he never said anything interesting. On her days off, Higgins Clark would window shop, mentally choosing the clothes she would wear when she finally became a famous writer.<ref name="pg40">Higgins Clark, ''Kitchen Privileges'', pp. 40&ndash;42.</ref>

Despite Higgins Clark's contribution to the family finances, the money her mother earned babysitting<ref name="qa" >{{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Mary Higgins Clark Q&A | work = | publisher =Simon and Shuster | date = | url =http://www.simonsays.com/content/destination.cfm?tab=1&pid=352932&agid=8 | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-02-12 }}</ref> was not enough, and the family lost their house and moved into a small three-room apartment. When Joseph graduated from high school in 1944, he immediately enlisted in the Navy, both to serve his country during war and to help his mother pay her bills. Six months after his enlistment he contracted spinal meningitis and died.<ref>Higgins Clark, ''Kitchen Privileges'', pp.43&ndash;45.</ref> Although the family mourned Joseph's death deeply, as his dependent, Nora Higgins was guaranteed a pension for life, and no longer needed her daughter's help to pay the bills.<ref>Higgins Clark, ''Kitchen Privileges'', p. 84.</ref>

==Early career==
Soon after Joseph died, Higgins Clark graduated from high school and chose to attend Wood Secretarial School on a partial scholarship. After completing her coursework the following year, she accepted a job as the secretary to the head of the creative department in the internal advertising division at [[Remington-Rand]].<ref>Higgins Clark, ''Kitchen Privileges'', pp.47&ndash;48.</ref> She soon enrolled in evening classes to learn more about advertising and promotion. Her growing skills, as well as her natural beauty, were noticed by her boss and others in the company, and her job was expanded to include writing catalog copy (alongside future novelist [[Joseph Heller]]) and to model for the company brochures with a then-unknown [[Grace Kelly]].<ref>Higgins Clark, ''Kitchen Privileges'', pp. 48&ndash;49, 53.</ref>

Although she enjoyed her job, Higgins Clark's imagination was sparked by an acquaintance's casual comment, "God, it was beastly hot in Calcutta."<ref>Higgins Clark, ''Kitchen Privileges'', p. 53.</ref> Inspired to become a flight attendant like her acquaintance, Higgins Clark underwent rigorous interviews to earn a position as a stewardess for [[Pan American Airlines]], making five dollars fewer a week than her secretarial job.<ref>Higgins Clark, ''Kitchen Privileges'', p. 57.</ref> Her supervisor at Remington-Rand hosted a goodbye dinner for her, and Higgins Clark invited her neighbor, Warren Clark, whom she had admired for years, to be her date. By the end of the evening Warren Clark had informed her that he thought she should work as a stewardess for a year and then they should be married the following Christmas. Higgins Clark accepted the somewhat unorthodox proposal.<ref>Higgins Clark, ''Kitchen Privileges'', pp. 60&ndash;62.</ref>

For most of 1949, she worked the Pan Am international flights, traveling through Europe, Africa and Asia. One of her flights became the last flight allowed into [[Czechoslovakia]] before the [[Iron Curtain]] fell.<ref name="bruns"/> On another of her flights, Higgins Clark escorted a four year old orphaned child down the steps of the airplane into the waiting arms of her adoptive mother, a scene that was heavily televised.<ref>Higgins Clark, ''Kitchen Privileges'', p. 65.</ref>

At the end of her year of flying, on December 26, 1949, Higgins Clark happily gave up her career to marry Warren Clark.<ref> Higgins Clark, ''Kitchen Privileges'', p. 72.</ref> To occupy herself, she began taking writing courses at [[New York University|NYU]]<ref name="welch" /> and, with some of her classmates, formed a writing workshop in which the members would critique each other's works in progress. The workshop, which persisted for almost forty years, met weekly, and at each meeting two members would have 20 minutes each to present their latest work. The other members would then have three minutes each to offer constructive criticism.<ref name="white" >{{cite web | last = White | first = Claire E. | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = A Conversation with Mary Higgins Clark | work = | publisher =Writers Write | date = | url =http://www.writerswrite.com/journal/may00/clark.htm | doi = | accessdate = 2007-02-12 }}</ref>

One of her professors at NYU told the class that they should develop plot ideas by reading newspapers and asking "Suppose...?" and "What If." Higgins Clark says she still gets many of her ideas by asking those questions, along with "Why?"<ref name="pg86">Higgins Clark, ''Kitchen Privileges'', p. 86.</ref> For her first NYU writing assignment she used this method to expand her own experiences into a short story called "Stowaway", about a stewardess who finds a stowaway from Czechoslovakia on her plane.<ref>Higgins Clark, ''Kitchen Privileges'', p. 89.</ref> Although her professor offered high praise for the story, Higgins Clark was continually frustrated in her attempt to find a publisher. Finally, in 1956, after six&nbsp;years and forty&nbsp;rejections, ''Extension Magazine'' agreed to purchase the story for $100.<ref name="bruns"/>

Whilst those six&nbsp;years were devoid of professional milestones, on a personal level Higgins Clark and her husband were very busy. Their first child, Marilyn, was born nine&nbsp;months after their wedding, with Warren Jr. arriving thirteen&nbsp;months later, and a third child, David, born two&nbsp;years after his brother. Two&nbsp;months after Higgins Clark's short story sold, the fourth baby made her appearance and was promptly named [[Carol Higgins Clark|Carol]], after the heroine in her mother's story.<ref>Higgins Clark, ''Kitchen Privileges'', pp. 86, 95, 97, 106.</ref>

After selling that first short story, Higgins Clark began regularly finding homes for her works. Through the writer's workshop she met an agent, Patricia Schartle Myrer, who represented Higgins Clark for twenty&nbsp;years until her retirement, and became such a good friend that Higgins Clark named her fifth and last child for her.<ref>Higgins Clark, ''Kitchen Privileges'', p. 107.</ref>

While Warren worked and Higgins Clark wrote, they encouraged their children to find ways to earn money as well, with all five children eventually taking professional acting and modeling jobs. Young Patty served as a [[Gerber Baby|Gerber baby]], while David was featured in a national [[United Way of America|United Way]] ad. Higgins Clark herself filmed a television commercial for Fab laundry detergent. The commercial, which aired during the ''[[I Love Lucy]]'' show, earned her enough money that she and Warren were able to take a trip to [[Hawaii]].<ref>Higgins Clark, ''Kitchen Privileges'', pp. 117, 119&ndash;122.</ref>

In 1959, Warren Clark was diagnosed with severe [[Angina pectoris|angina]], and, although he curtailed his activities on his doctor's order, he suffered {{nowrap|three heart attacks}} within the next five&nbsp;years, each time returning from the hospital in poorer health. After the last heart attack in 1964 they felt that Warren would be unable to work again, so Higgins Clark called a friend who wrote scripts for radio shows to see if there were any job openings. The day that she accepted a job writing the radio segment "Portrait of a Patriot," Warren suffered a fatal heart attack. His mother, who was visiting at the time, collapsed at his bedside upon discovering that he was dead. In one night, Higgins Clark had lost her husband and her mother-in-law.<ref>Higgins Clark, ''Kitchen Privileges'', pp. 109&ndash;111, 114&ndash;115.</ref>

==''Aspire to the Heavens''==
Higgins Clark's initial contract to be a radio scriptwriter obligated her to write 65&nbsp;four-minute programs for the Portrait of a Patriot series. Her work was good enough that she was soon asked to write two other radio series. This experience of fitting an entire sketch into four&nbsp;minutes taught Higgins Clark how to write cleanly and succinctly, traits that are incredibly important to a suspense novel, which must advance the plot with every paragraph.<ref>Higgins Clark, ''Kitchen Privileges'', pp. 125, 150&ndash;151, 153.</ref> Despite the security offered by her new job, money was tight in the beginning as she strove to raise five&nbsp;children aged five to thirteen alone. For their first Christmas without Warren, Higgins Clark's only gifts to her children were personalized poems describing the things she wished she could have purchased for them.<ref name="brady">{{cite web | last = Brady | first = Lois Smith | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Mary Higgins Clark John Conheeney | work = | publisher =New York Times | date = December 8, 1996 | url = http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9800E7D8143FF93BA35751C1A960958260&n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fPeople%2fC%2fClark%2c%20Mary%20Higgins | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-02-12 }}</ref>

By the late 1960s, the short story market had collapsed. ''[[The Saturday Evening Post]]'', which in 1960 named Higgins Clark's short story "Beauty Contest at Buckingham" one of their ten best of the year, had decided to stop publishing fiction, and many of the popular ladies magazines were focusing on self-help articles instead.<ref>Higgins Clark, ''Kitchen Privileges'', pp. 122, 125, 156.</ref> Because her short stories were no longer able to find a publisher, Higgins Clark's agent suggested that she try writing a full-length novel.<ref name="welch"/> Leveraging her research and experience with the ''Portraits of a Patriot'' series, Higgins Clark spent the next three years writing a fictionalized account of the relationship between [[George Washington|George]] and [[Martha Washington]], ''Aspire to the Heavens''.<ref name="qa" /> The book did sell, and although the advance was small, it gave Higgins Clark confidence that she could indeed finish a full-length book and find a publisher.<ref name="levitsky"/> The novel "was [[remaindered book|remaindered]] as it came off the press,"<ref name="bruns"/> and, to make matters worse, four&nbsp;months after the publication of the novel, Higgins Clark's mother Nora Higgins died.<ref>Higgins Clark, ''Kitchen Privileges'', p. 181.</ref>

==Suspense genre==
To ensure that her children would not have to struggle financially, Higgins Clark was determined that they should have good educations. To provide a good example she entered [[Fordham University]] at [[Lincoln Center]] in 1971, graduating [[summa cum laude]] in 1979, with a [[Bachelor of Arts|B.A.]] in philosophy.<ref name="bruns" /> Her children followed her example. The two eldest, Marilyn and Warren, have become judges, and Patty works at the Mercantile Exchange in New York City. David is the president and CEO of Talk Marketing Enterprises, Inc, and [[Carol Higgins Clark|Carol]] has authored many popular suspense novels.<ref name="qa"/>

During this time Higgins Clark became increasingly frustrated with her employer, and, although two of her children were partially dependent on her for their college tuition, she quit her job and joined two of her former colleagues in forming their own company to write and market radio scripts. To scrape up the $5000 she needed to start the business, Higgins Clark was forced to pawn her engagement ring, and, for the eight months it took the company to become profitable, she did not receive a salary, further straining the family finances.<ref>Higgins Clark, ''Kitchen Privileges'', p. 188.</ref>
[[File:WhereAreTheChildren.jpg|thumb|left|150px|''Where Are the Children?'' book cover]]
Higgins Clark continued writing even during these hard times. Encouraged by her agent to try writing another book, Higgins Clark returned to the suspense stories that she loved as a child and which had provided her first success as a short story writer. While she was in the midst of writing the story, her younger brother Johnny died, leaving her the sole surviving member of her family. To temporarily forget her heartache, Higgins Clark threw herself into her writing, and soon finished the novel.<ref>Higgins Clark, ''Kitchen Privileges'', p. 177, 192&ndash;193.</ref>

Very quickly after the novel, ''Where are the Children?'' was completed, [[Simon and Schuster]] agreed to purchase it for the relatively small sum of $3000. Three&nbsp;months later, in July 1974, Higgins Clark received word that the paperback rights for the novel had sold for one hundred thousand dollars. For the first time in many years she had no immediate financial worries.<ref>Higgins Clark, ''Kitchen Privileges'', pp. 195&ndash;196.</ref>

''Where Are the Children?'' became a [[bestseller]] and was favorably reviewed.<ref name="bruns"/> Two&nbsp;years after its publication Higgins Clark sold her second suspense novel for $1.5 million.<ref name="brady" />

==Other writings==
Higgins Clark's debut novel about George Washington, ''Aspire to the Heavens'' was retitled ''Mount Vernon Love Story'' and rereleased in 2002, the same year as her autobiography, ''Kitchen Privileges'', which relied heavily on the journals she has kept all of her life.<ref name="simon"/><ref name="qa" /> In 2006 Higgins Clark announced that she would be fulfilling one of her dreams by publishing her first children's book. ''Ghost Ship'' was published by Simon and Schuster, who have also published her suspense novels.<ref name="welch"/><ref name="kids" >{{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Internationally Bestselling Author Mary Higgins Clark to Publish Her First Children's Book With Simon & Schuster | work = | publisher = Simon & Schuster | date = August 10, 2006 | url = http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/08-10-2006/0004414197&EDATE= | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-02-13 }}</ref>

She has also written several Christmas themed mystery novels with her daughter, [[Carol Higgins Clark]]. Although popular with readers, some critics have complained that the books are of lesser qaulity than the bulk of Mary's work, partly because the tone is much lighter than her solo output.

==Personal life==
Higgins Clark dated throughout her widowhood, and underwent a "disastrous" marriage in 1978 that was annulled several years later.<ref name="brady" /> In 1996, she remarried, to John J. Conheeney, the retired CEO of Merrill Lynch Futures,<ref name="bruns" /> after they were introduced by her daughter, Patty.<ref name="white"/> The couple lives in [[Saddle River, New Jersey]]<ref>Geiger, Mia. [http://www.denverpost.com/books/ci_5604012 "Suspense queen sailing two ships"], ''[[The Denver Post]]'', April 6, 2007. Accessed May 14, 2007. "It seemed only natural for Higgins Clark to set the story on Cape Cod, a place that feels magical to the Saddle River, N.J., resident."</ref> and also have homes in [[Manhattan]], [[Spring Lake, New Jersey]], and [[Dennis, Massachusetts]].<ref name="bruns" />

In 1981, Higgins Clark happened to be in [[Washington, D.C.]] the day President [[Ronald Reagan]] was shot. Because she had a press pass she was able to join the media waiting to hear the President's prognosis. When the doctor finally arrived to start the press conference, Higgins Clark was one of the few people chosen to ask a question.<ref name="levitsky"/>

Before beginning the actual writing of her books, Higgins Clark prefers to develop an outline and perhaps detailed character biographies. Each chapter is continuously revised as she writes, so that when she is ready to move on to the next chapter, the current chapter is considered done and is sent directly to her editor. By the time the editor receives the last chapter, the book is primarily done.<ref name="white" />

Creativity abounds in Higgins Clark's office, a tower-like room featuring skylights and windows, located on the third floor of her house. Every morning after a light breakfast, Higgins Clark arrives in her office around 8 a.m. and works until about 2 pm, unless she is near the end of her book, when she might extend her schedule to work up to 17 hours per day.<ref name="levitsky" /> Once a year Higgins Clark lectures on a cruise ship, allowing her to travel and to do some writing in a more novel location.<ref name="levitsky"/>

==Success==
===Popular reception===
As of 2007, Higgins Clark has written twenty-four suspense novels, which have sold over 80 million copies in the United States.<ref name="simon"/> All of her suspense novels have been best-sellers, and as of 2007 all are still in print, including ''Where are the Children?'', which is in its 75th printing.<ref name="welch" /> In 2001, the hardcover edition of Higgins Clark's ''On the Street Where You Live'' was Number One on the ''New York Times'' Hardcover Bestseller list at the same time that the paperback version of her novel ''Before I Say Good-bye'' reached Number One on the ''New York Times'' Paperback Besteller list.<ref name="bruns2" >{{cite web | last = Bruns | first = Ann | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Mary Higgins Clark | work = | publisher =Teen Reads | date = June 5, 2001 | url =http://www.teenreads.com/authors/au-clark-mary.asp | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-02-12 }}</ref> Her books are also number one bestsellers in France,<ref name="white" /> and have earned her the distinction of being named a Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters in France in 2000. She has also been honored in France with the Grand Prix de Literature Policier (1980) and the Deauville Film Festival Literary Award (1999).<ref name="hwa">{{cite web | last = | first = | coauthors = | title = Mary Higgins Clark | work= | pages = | publisher = The Harry Walker Agency, Inc. | date = | url =http://www.harrywalker.com/speakers_template.cfm?Spea_ID=127 | accessdate = 2007-04-23}}</ref>

Known as "The Queen of Suspense", Higgins Clark is a "master plotter" who has the ability to slowly draw out the tension while making the reader think everyone is guilty.<ref name="bn" >{{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Review: Mary Higgins Clark, Three Bestselling Novels | work = | publisher = BarnesandNoble.com | year = 2001 | url = http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbninquiry.asp?ean=9780517162767&z=y | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-02-13 }}</ref> Her novels feature strong, independent young women who find themselves in the midst of a problem that they must solve with their own courage and intelligence.<ref name="mwa" /> The heroines come across as real people who make sensible decisions, which makes it easier for readers, who sometimes think " "that could have happened to me, or to my to daughter," to relate to the situations.<ref name="choteau">{{cite web | last = Choteau | first = Zachary | coauthors = | title = Mary Higgins Clark, On Reading, Writing, and Bookselling | publisher = Bookweb | date = [[Mary 26]], 1997 | url =http://bookweb.org/news/btw/archive/945.html | accessdate = 2007-04-23}}</ref> Higgins Clark's books are written for adults, yet because she chooses not to include explicit sex or violence in her stories, they have become popular with children as young as twelve.<ref name="bruns" />

Many of the books deal with crimes involving children or with telepathy.<ref name="pwblue" >{{cite web | title = Two Little Girls in Blue | work = | publisher = Publishers Weekly | date = February 27, 2006 | url = http://reviews.publishersweekly.com/bd.aspx?isbn=0743264908&pub=pw | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-02-13 }}</ref> While Higgins Clark is well aware that many people claiming to be psychics are behaving fraudulently, she believes that she has met people with genuine ESP powers. Higgins Clark's mother, on looking at a photo of her eighteen year old son in his brand new Navy dress blues told her daughter that "He has death in his eyes," and the young man died shortly after. A psychic Higgins Clark visited just as her second novel, ''Where Are the Children'', was being published in paperback told her that she would become very famous and make a great deal of money. Although at the time she laughed off the prediction, the following week her novel reached the bestseller lists and she sold the movie rights shortly after, truly launching her career.<ref name="white" />

===Critical reception===
Higgins Clark has won numerous awards for her writing. In addition to those previously referenced, she has won the Horatio Alger Award (1997) and the Passionists' Ethics in Literature Award (2002), as well as the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of [[Yeshiva University]] Spirit of Achievement Award (1994) and the [[National Arts Club]]'s Gold Medal in Education (1994). She has been awarded eighteen honorary doctorates, including one from her alma mater, Fordham University.<ref name="hwa"/>

Her success has also been recognized by groups representing her heritage. The American-Irish Historical Society granted her the Gold Medal of Honor in 1993, and in 2001 she won the Ellis Island Medal of Honor. She has also been named a Bronx Legend (1999).<ref name="hwa"/>

Higgins Clark has served as the Chairman of the International Crime Congress in 1988 and was the 1987 president of the [[Mystery Writers of America]]. For many years she also served on the Board of Directors of the Mystery Writers of America.<ref name="white" /> [[Simon and Schuster]], which have published all of Higgins Clark's novels and in the late 1990s signed her to a $64-million, four book contract,<ref name="white" /> have funded the Mary Higgins Clark Award, given by the Mystery Writers of America to authors of suspense fiction for each of the ten years between 2001 and 2011.<ref name="simon"/><ref name="mwa">{{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = The Mary Higgins Clark Award | work = | publisher =Mystery Writers of America | date = | url =http://www.mysterywriters.org/pages/awards/mhc.htm | doi = | accessdate = 2007-02-12 }}</ref> The announcement that an award would be given in her honor was made at the 55th Annual Edgar Allan Poe Awards, where Higgins Clark was inducted as a Grand Master.<ref name="mwa"/>

Her devotion to her religion has also been widely recognized. In the highest honor that can be offered to a layperson by the Pope, Higgins Clark has been made a Dame of the [[Order of St. Gregory the Great]], and has also been honored as a Dame of Malta and a Dame of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem.<ref name="white"/> The Franciscan Friars have given her a Graymoor Award (1999) and she has been awarded a [[Christopher Award|Christopher Life Achievement Award]]. Higgins Clark also serves as a board member for the Catholic Communal Fund and as a member of the Board of Governors at Hackensack Hospital.<ref name="simoncanada">{{cite web | title = Facts About Mary | publisher = Simon and Schuster Canada | date = | url =http://www.simonsays.com/content/destination.cfm?tab=25&pid=352932&agid=12 | accessdate = 2007-04-23}}</ref>

==Bibliography==
===Fiction===
* 1968 ''Aspire To The Heavens'' (reissued in 2000 as ''Mount Vernon Love Story'')
* 1975 ''Where Are The Children?''
* 1977 ''[[A Stranger is Watching]]''
* 1980 ''The Cradle Will Fall''
* 1982 ''[[A Cry in the Night]]''
* 1984 ''Stillwatch''
* 1987 ''Weep No More, My Lady''
* 1989 ''While My Pretty One Sleeps''
* 1989 ''The Anastasia Syndrome and Other Stories''
* 1990 ''Voices in the Coal Bin'' (short story, only available as an audio book with Carol Higgins Clark's ''That's the Ticket'')
* 1991 ''Loves Music, Loves to Dance''
* 1992 ''All Around the Town''
* 1993 ''I'll Be Seeing You''
* 1993 ''Death on the Cape and Other Stories''
* 1993 ''Milk Run and Stowaway'' (Two stories. Like ''Voices in the Coal Bin'', never officially published out of anthologies)
* 1994 ''[[Remember Me (novel)|Remember Me]]''
* 1994 ''The Lottery Winner and Other Stories''
* 1995 ''Let Me Call You Sweetheart''
* 1995 ''Silent Night''
* 1996 ''Moonlight Becomes You''
* 1996 ''My Gal Sunday: Henry and Sunday Stories''
* 1997 ''[[Pretend You Don't See Her]]''
* 1998 ''You Belong to Me''
* 1998 ''All Through The Night''
* 1999 ''We'll Meet Again''
* 2000 ''Before I Say Good-Bye''
* 2000 ''Deck the Halls'' (with daughter Carol Higgins Clark)
* 2001 ''On The Street Where You Live''
* 2001 ''He Sees You When You're Sleeping'' (with daughter Carol Higgins Clark)
* 2002 ''Daddy's Little Girl''
* 2003 ''The Second Time Around''
* 2004 ''Nighttime Is My Time''
* 2004 ''The Christmas Thief'' (with daughter Carol Higgins Clark)
* 2004 ''You Belong to Me''
* 2005 ''[[No Place Like Home (novel)|No Place Like Home]]''
* 2006 ''Two Little Girls in Blue''
* 2006 ''Santa Cruise'' (with daughter Carol Higgins Clark)
* 2007 ''Ghost Ship: A Cape Cod Story''
* 2007 ''[[I Heard That Song Before]]''
* 2008 ''[[Where Are You Now? (novel)|Where Are You Now?]]''
* 2008 ''Dashing Through the Snow'' (with daughter Carol Higgins Clark)
* 2009 ''[[Just Take My Heart]]''
* 2010 ''[[The Shadow of Your Smile]]''

===Non-Fiction===
* 1993 ''Mother'' (with [[Amy Tan]] and [[Maya Angelou]])
* 2001 ''Kitchen Privileges, A Memoir'

==Movie adaptations==

* 1982 ''[[A Stranger Is Watching (film)|A Stranger Is Watching]]''
* 1986 ''[[Where Are The Children?]]''
* 2002 ''[[We'll Meet Again (2002 film)|We'll Meet Again]]''
* 2002 ''[[Lucky Day (2002 film)|Lucky Day]]''

==Television adaptations==

* 1983 ''[[The Cradle Will Fall]]''
* 1987 ''[[Stillwatch]]''
* 1992 ''Weep No More, My Lady''
* 1992 ''[[Double Vision]]''
* 1992 ''[[A Cry in the Night]]'' (starring daughter Carol Higgins Clark)
* 1992 ''[[Terror Stalks the Class Reunion]]''
* 1995 ''[[Remember Me]]'' (Clark appears as the character Mary)
* 1997 ''[[Let Me Call You Sweetheart]]''
* 1997 ''[[While My Pretty One Sleeps]]'' (Clark appears as the character Mary)
* 1998 ''[[Moonlight Becomes You]]''
* 2001 ''[[You Belong to Me (2001 film)|You Belong to Me]]''
* 2001 ''[[Loves Music, Loves to Dance]]''
* 2002 ''[[He Sees You When You're Sleeping]]'' (directed by [[David Winning]])
* 2002 ''[[Pretend You Don't See Her (movie)|Pretend You Don't See Her]]''
* 2002 ''[[Lucky Day (2002 film)|Lucky Day]]''
* 2002 ''[[Haven't We Met Before?]]''
* 2002 ''[[All Around The Town]]''
* 2004 ''[[I'll Be Seeing You (2004 film)|I'll Be Seeing You]]''
* 2004 ''[[Before I Say Good-Bye]]''
* 2004 ''[[Try to Remember]]''
* 2005 ''[[The Cradle Will Fall]]''
* 2005 ''[[A Crime of Passion]]''

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

*{{cite book | last = Higgins Clark | first = Mary | title = Kitchen Privileges: A Memoir | publisher = [[Simon and Schuster]] | year = 2002 }}

==External links==
* [http://www.simonsays.com/content/destination.cfm?sid=33&pid=352932 Official Mary Higgins Clark Website from Simon and Shuster]
* [http://www.mysterywriters.org/pages/awards/mhc.htm The Mary Higgins Clark Award]

{{New Jersey Nets}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Higgins Clark, Mary}}
[[Category:1927 births]]
[[Category:American novelists]]
[[Category:Dames of Malta]]
[[Category:Fordham University alumni]]
[[Category:Irish-American writers]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Bergen County, New Jersey]]
[[Category:People from the Bronx]]
[[Category:Roman Catholic writers]]

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Revision as of 19:31, 15 February 2010

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