Born in Sweden, Donald Hamilton, the son of a Swedish count who renounced his title upon emigrating to the United States, graduated from the University of Chicago and served in the Navy during the second World War.
He went on to publish an impressive 27 novels in the Matt Helm series between 1960 and 1992, as well as several other novels and magazine articles.
For a number of years, Hamilton resided aboard his motor-yacht, the "Kathleen", in the waters of Connecticut, before eventually returning to his native Sweden.
Upon his return, he purchased and lived on a surplus patrol boat, which he named the "Maagen" or "Seagull" in Danish, until a fall required him to be placed in a nursing home, where he passed away peacefully in his sleep on November 20, 2006.
As one of the last truly "American" suspense series writers, Hamilton's Matt Helm series, adapted for the screen by Columbia Pictures, starring Dean Martin, is often regarded as a quintessential American anti-hero, alongside John D. MacDonald's Travis McGee.
At the time of his death, Hamilton was working on the manuscript of the 28th Matt Helm novel, tentatively titled "The Dominators".
