A ghost is dead

Donald Bain might have been the most prolific ghostwriter in history, having written many fiction and nonfiction books under fictional names and the names of others, including many corporate executives.

Several years before he died last week at 82, he had declared, “My ego is intact.”

Possibly that’s thanks to his working philosophy, shared in a 2014 interview with Publishers Weekly:

“I’ve made a living all these years as a ghost who makes others sound good. I’ve been a journeyman writer and proud of it. I’ve attacked every book with the philosophy that it’s the most important book I’ve ever written, and maybe the last I will write, no matter whose name is on it.” —DM