Stephen Marlowe (born Milton Lesser on August 7, 1928 in Brooklyn, New York; died February 22, 2008 in Williamsburg, Virginia, at the age of 79) was an American author of science fiction, mystery novels, and fictional autobiographies of Goya, Christopher Columbus, Miguel de Cervantes, and Edgar Allan Poe. He is well known for creating the detective character Chester Drum for the 1955 novel The Second Longest Night. Lesser also used the pen names Adam Chase, Andrew Frazer, C.H. Thames, Jason Ridgway, Stephen Wilder, and Ellery Queen when writing. Lesser studied philosophy at the College of William and Mary and married Leigh Lang shortly after graduation. During the Korean War, he was drafted into the United States Army. In 1962, he and his wife divorced. He received the French Prix Gutenberg du Livre in 1988 for The Memoirs of Christopher Columbus, and the Private Eye Writers of America honored him with the "Life Achievement Award" in 1997. He was also a member of the Mystery Writers of America's board of directors. He spent the latter portion of his life in Williamsburg, Virginia, with his second wife Ann.
