Donald E. Westlake character who appears in his Richard Stark-signed novels. Parker is the finest exponent of professional criminals. His first name is never mentioned in the novels he appears, and there are many details about him which remain unknown (like his tradition of waiting people sitting on sofas in dark rooms). Parker is scary, not just because he is cold, methodic and efficient, but because Westlake is very successful in making him believable. Parker does not pull off extreme stunts or becomes unreal, he just does his stuff, always taking the most direct route to it.

Parker started his series in The Hunter (filmed as Point Blank and Payback), where he chases his ex-partners and ex-girlfriend, who had betrayed them in a heist and left him dead.

He wasn't dead, but the police caught him, and having a police record wasn't his cup of tea. Slow and methodic, Parker kills'em all, one by one. When the mob protects one of them, Parker takes on the organization.

After that, he would go on on some memorable stunts, like robbing an entire town in The Score or a navy base in The Green Eagle Score... always perfectly blueprinted coups, executed with perfection.

Parker has been played on the cinema by Lee Marvin in the movie Point Blank but he was called Walker, and Peter Coyote in Slayground.

Novels

Films

(bibliography and filmography from http://www.thrillingdetective.com/parker2.html)

Update: I have just discovered that the text of this entry was copied to the Wikipedia in my 2004 birthday. Cool :)

Originally an American maker of writing instruments, Parker is now based in the United Kingdom. Parker is one of the better-known pen companies, and created some of the best known fountain pens.

The company got its start in 1888, by George Parker. Parker was frustrated with the fountain pens of the day. Though they were somewhat of an improvement over dip pens of the day, they did tend to leak, be messy, and were temperamental. Parker's innovation was they "Lucky Curve." In the feed was a small curved tube. This prevent a blob of ink from spilling out on the paper.

In 1921, the Duofold was born. Until the Duofold, pens were mostly made from black hard rubber. The Duofold first introduced a red-orange hard rubber. These pens are known as "Big Reds." It was a hit.

Parker followed the Duofold with the Vacumatic. The Vacumatic was innovative in that it provided a filling mechanism that allowed the complete diameter of the barrel be used to store ink.

In 1941, Parker introduced what would be regarded as the best fountain pen ever produced: the Parker 51. The 51 had very modern styling (even by today's standards), and very reliable. This pen was produced into the 1970s. They were so popular that some would by just the cap, to give the appearance they had the 51.

Today, Parker is still manufacturing fountain pens, as well as other writing instruments. They updated and reintroduced the Duofold in the late 1980s, and more recently have done the same with the Parker 51.

For collectors, Parker is very fun to collect. Over their hundred-plus-year history, they have produced a wide variety of pens, with each era having a very distinct look.

Sources:
http://www.pendemonium.com
http://www.ettnet.se/~boris/ An excellent Parker reference

Park"er (?), n

, The keeper of a park.

Sir M. Hale.

 

© Webster 1913.

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