Skip Fickling

Born in Long Beach, California, Forrest E. Fickling, better known as "Skip", lived in California and Washington State. He attended three colleges, finally earning a degree from the University of Southern California in 1949. He also served in the U.S. Army Air Force during the last two years of World War II, then in the Marines during the Korean conflict. In between he met the love of his life, Gloria Gautraud, marrying her in May 1949. They had three sons. After his military service, Fickling worked in advertising but took periodic breaks from this career to write novels, the first two of which were unsuccessful. Gloria supported him, sometimes working in publishing but often getting unskilled jobs to make ends meet. Finally, in 1957, Skip wrote "This Girl For Hire", the novel that introduced Honey West, a tawny-haired private eye with a mole near her lip, not unlike Anne Francis, the actress who would eventually portray Honey in the subsequent TV series (Honey West (1965)). The name "Honey" was chosen because it is a term of endearment, while "West" was chosen because Fickling loved the western U.S. Gloria is usually given credit for co-authoring the Honey West novels, but she has said repeatedly that Skip did all of the writing. She does seem to have contributed her editorial skills, however, and many of the inner thoughts of the female private eye, as well as Honey's fashion sense, came from Gloria's suggestions. Skip is thought to have modeled Honey's spunky personality on Gloria's to a large degree, and his nom de plume, G. G. Fickling, appears to derive from the initials of his wife's maiden name. Eight of the 11 Honey West novels were written from 1957 to 1961, during which time Fickling often turned out two books per year. The speed with which he wrote seems to be reflected in their slapdash construction, meandering plots, stereotyped characters and dialog. Timelines do not always make sense, and some details about Honey and other recurring characters are contradicted from novel to novel. Despite these detriments, Fickling's presentation of his female private eye was unique and compelling in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Some critics believe that "Kiss For a Killer" (1960) and, to some extent, "This Girl For Hire" (1957) are almost worthy efforts. While the early novels provided enough income to support the Ficklings, the sale of the television rights afforded them a comfortable retirement. The Honey West TV series (1965-1966) did not, however, increase the demand for more novels in the series, and after the final entry in 1971, Fickling retired his creation. An attempt to republish the series in the 1980s met with little success. Skip Fickling died from a brain tumor on April 3, 1998, in Laguna Hills, California, just short of his 73rd birthday. He was also a year shy of celebrating his 50th anniversary with Gloria, who has continued to live in the Laguna-Long Beach area of Southern California. In 2005, she was active in promoting a new edition of "This Girl For Hire".