Leonard M. Sanders Jr.

1929 - 2005

Leonard M. Sanders Jr., 76, a best-selling author and former Star-Telegram books editor, died Saturday, Feb. 19, 2005.

Funeral: 4 p.m. Wednesday at Thompson's Harveson & Cole Funeral Home. Burial: Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery, beside his wife. Visitation: 3:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Memorials: American Diabetes Association or Texas Christian University Department of Journalism.

Leonard Marion Sanders Jr. was born Jan. 15, 1929, in Denver, Colo., the son of Leonard Marion Sanders Sr. and Jacqueline Thomas Sanders. He served in the Navy before receiving an honorable discharge in 1953.

Mr. Sanders studied writing at the University of Oklahoma. He worked at newspapers in Wichita Falls; Enid, Okla.; and Oklahoma City, Okla., before joining the Star-Telegram, where he was books editor and served for a time as fine arts editor. He became one of the few members of the Texas Institute of Letters to qualify for induction as both an author and literary critic.

Mr. Sanders' classic novel, "Fort Worth," definitively captured the city's early history.

Mr. Sanders wrote several novels before joining the Star-Telegram in the 1960s, but he achieved national prominence in 1976 when his spy thriller, "The Hamlet Warning," became a national best-seller.

Other prominent books by Mr. Sanders include "The Wooden Horseshoe" in 1964 and "The Hamlet Ultimatum" in 1979. In all, he published two dozen books, including a few written under pseudonyms.

After resigning from the Star-Telegram in 1979 to concentrate on his books, Mr. Sanders conceived and wrote "Fort Worth." Published in 1984, the work of historical fiction combined solid facts with a colorful cast of characters. Texas Christian University Press will reissue "Fort Worth" some time this fall, director Judy Alter said.

Mr. Sanders wife, Florene, died in 1994. They had no children.