Judson Philips

Judson Pentecost Philips (August 10, 1903 – March 7, 1989) was an American writer who wrote more than 100 mystery and detective novels under the pseudonyms Hugh Pentecost and Philip Owen, as well as under his own name. As Judson Philips, he also wrote numerous pulp sports novels in the 1930s.

Philips was born in Northfield, Massachusetts and traveled widely before completing his education and graduating from Columbia University in 1925.

Philips started writing short stories for pulp fiction magazines in the 1920s and 1930s. He also wrote plays and a newspaper column.

He was a prolific mystery writer, especially under the Hugh Pentecost moniker. His novels benefited from strong characterization, fair play with the reader, and unstilted language. He created several series characters, most of them "amateur" sleuths. Perhaps the best known is Pierre Chambrun, the suave manager of a New York luxury hotel who often has to solve murders among the rich and famous.

In 1973, Philips received the Grand Master Award, the highest honor bestowed by the Mystery Writers of America.

An entertaining conversationalist and raconteur, he was well respected in his community and in his literary genre. In 1950, he helped found the Sharon Playhouse, where he served as a producer and adviser. In the mid-1960s he hosted a program about events in Connecticut's "Northwest Corner" on radio station WTOR in Torrington, CT (610kh 1 kW day 500w night DA) which attracted a following.

Phillips died of complications from emphysema in 1989, at age 85, in Canaan, Connecticut. He was survived by his wife, Norma Burton Philips; three sons, David, of Cranston, Connecticut; John, of Washington,, and Daniel, of Fort Lauderdale, Florida; and a daughter, Caroline Norwood of Rochester.