Legends of the Underwood #4: Michael Avallone

[Avallone was] the self-proclaimed "Fastest Typewriter in the East" and "The King of the Paperbacks," who claimed to have written over a thousand works, almost all paperback originals... He once completed a novel in a day and a half. One story goes that he wrote a 1,500-word short story in 20 minutes, while dining in a New York restaurant. One year, he supposedly churned out 27 books.

—Kevin Burton Smith, from his entry on Avallone at The Thrilling Detective Website

(Fourth in a series. Illustration by Frank Hamilton from Paperback Parade #3. Avallone's writing desk, complete with cigarette burns, is currently on display at Port Richmond Books in Philadelphia, PA.)