American educator and author of five published mysteries, several short stories and screenplays.
Al Blanchard died suddenly on November 14, 2004 at age 59. At the time of his death, he was attending a fund-raising “crime bake” in Tewksbury, MA. After posing for a group photo, he left the room, telling a friend he didn’t feel well. At 9:13 that morning, his friend called 911, and Blanchard was rushed to a hospital in nearby Lowell, MA. He died soon after. While the cause was unknown, foul play was ruled out.
Blanchard taught in the Waltham middle schools for 30 years. He loved reading mysteries as a child and would re-write episodes of TV series like “Matlock” and “Murder, She Wrote” in his head with various endings. Before becoming a full time writer Al owned an art gallery, a music store, a restaurant, taught computer literacy to blind adults and geography to seventh graders in a public school. Blanchard started writing short stories during the nineties and decided to expand his storytelling to longer venues, thus the birth of his two mystery series. His books featuring James Callahan, a Boston Irish homicide detective, include “The Iscariot Conspiracy” and “The Disappearance of Jenna Drago.” Steve Asher, a history teacher and mystery-solver, is the hero of “Murder at Walden Pond,”:The Mad Season” and “Crucial Judgment.” He was an avid tennis player, President of the New England Chapter of the Mystery Writers of America and a member of the Boston Chapter of the National Writers Union steering committee.