REMEMBERING: ELIZABETH GUNN 1927 - 2022
Elizabeth Gunn, respected author of eighteen mystery novels, seven set in Tucson, ten in Minnesota, and one in Montana, passed away 30 August 2022 at age ninety-five. Born Elizabeth Anne McConnell in Chatfield, MN, on 10 June 1927 to James and Susie McConnell, she earned every dollar she ever had with hard work. She met and married Phil Gunn one summer in Yellowstone National Park when they were both working their way through college. Together they owned and ran motels in Helena, MT — a 24/7 job — for more than twenty-five years. They raised two daughters, living in a tiny apartment above the motel office.
During her years in Montana, Liz earned her pilot’s licence and flew herself and Phil around the state, across the US, and up the Alcan highway to Alaska. She took up running, riding, skiing, and skydiving. She completed one marathon and numerous shorter races. She reluctantly gave up jumping out of airplanes because a hard landing “ruined the ski season that year.”
But she longed for a major change. Eventually she and Phil sold the motels and became “citizens of the world,” living on a series of boats and RVs, traveling through Mexico, the Caribbean, and the US, scuba diving and snorkelling as they went. They weathered a hurricane by breaking into an old lighthouse on a tiny island using just a Leatherman. They moved to Barcelona, Spain, for a year and worked on their Spanish. Liz even made time to finish her bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota, taking one final correspondence course and receiving her diploma at age sixty-five.
Most important to Elizabeth, during those traveling years, she realized her lifelong dream of becoming an author. First she wrote travel articles which she sold to papers across the US, including the New York Times. Then she wrote her first murder mystery and saw it published when she was seventy. Having settled in Tucson with Phil, she enjoyed a successful 20+ year career as an author. Her last two novels were published when she was in her nineties and one of her series, the Detective Sarah Burke Mysteries, was reissued by Joffe Books in 2021. The novels earned good reviews. Marilyn Stasio of the New York Times described Liz’s police procedurals as “precision-tooled” while Publishers Weekly said, “Outstanding may be an understatement.” But for Elizabeth, the highest praise came from the cops, firefighters, and even FBI and DEA agents who would sometimes come up to her after an appearance at a bookstore, library, or festival and say, simply, “You got it right.”
Liz generously mentored writers young and old in workshops from Arizona to Alaska. She actively supported the Tucson Festival of Books from its beginnings, moderating panels, interviewing bestselling authors one-on-one, and appearing often as a panel participant. For many years, she was one of the pillars of a long-running, highly effective group of professional writers that met to critique each other’s work every month. Her advice on life: “Do not be careful what you wish for.” And for would-be novelists: “Set the hook early, keep the story moving and above all write about characters that interest you.”
When Phil got cancer, Liz tended him for two years until he died in their Tucson home in 2011. Then she found new friends and interests, took up yoga, and kept writing. She suffered a broken hip earlier this year, left Tucson, and passed away in Helena, MT. She is survived by her daughters, Susan Gunn of Helena, and Anne Gunn (Mark Rapf) of Sheridan, WY, and three grandchildren, Elizabeth Rapf, Rebecca Rapf, and Leslie Gunn. She will long be missed by family and friends but remembered by readers who will enjoy her novels for years to come. Sail on, Liz.