The Wrong MacDonald

I enjoyed Don Campbell’s review of John D. MacDonald’s latest book (Book Review, April 28), but it left me a trifle confused.

I thought I had read an article in the Los Angeles Times about three years ago that stated that John D. MacDonald was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and had just been confined to a sanitarium. Have I confused him with some other mystery writer?

If it was MacDonald, was “The Lonely Silver Rain” an unfinished manuscript completed by someone else? The reviewer mentioned that there were some distinct differences in the character of Travis Magee as compared to earlier novels, and that would seem to fit the scenario.

DIAN GIRARD CRAYNE

Manhattan Beach

John D. MacDonald is often confused with the late author Ross Macdonald, who died of Alzheimer’s disease in July, 1983.