Mary Higgins Clark

Mary Higgins Clark
Higgins Clark in 2012
Born	Mary Theresa Eleanor Higgins (1927-12-24)December 24, 1927 New York City, U.S.
Died	January 31, 2020(2020-01-31) (aged 92) Naples, Florida, U.S.
Resting place	Gate of Heaven Cemetery Hawthorne, New York
Occupation	Novelist
Alma mater	Fordham University
Period	1975–2020
Genre	Suspense mystery psychological thriller
Spouse	Warren Clark ​ ​ (m. 1949; died 1964)​ Raymond Ploetz ​ ​ (m. 1978; ann. 1986)​ John J. Conheeney ​ ​ (m. 1996; died 2018)​
Children	5, including Carol Higgins Clark
Signature
Website
maryhigginsclark.com

Mary Higgins Clark (born Mary Theresa Eleanor Higgins; December 24, 1927 – January 31, 2020)^[1] was an American author of suspense novels. Each of her 51 books was a bestseller in the United States and various European countries, and all of her novels remained in print as of 2015^[update], with her debut suspense novel, Where Are the Children?, in its 75th printing.

Higgins Clark began writing at an early age. After several years working as a secretary and copy editor, she spent a year as a stewardess for Pan-American Airlines before leaving 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 persuaded 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 exploit her love of mystery/suspense novels. Her suspense novels became very popular, and have sold more than 100 million copies in the United States alone.^[2] Her former daughter-in-law Mary Jane Clark is also a writer, as was her daughter Carol Higgins Clark.