David Reffkin’s email on Tuesday, October 11th brought sad news: “Larry Karp died this morning at a hospital in Seattle...”
Though I have read Larry’s novels for many years, I’ve only had two or three hours of personal acquaintance with him at this summer’s Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival in Sedalia and several dozen emails. I was aware that he was quite ill (Grave’s Disease had evolved into Solstice Fever) and that he had suffered an episode at the West Coast Ragtime Festival last November. Still, though frail, he seemed vital and certainly alert at the Festival so David’s news was a shock.
There is so much I could write about this amazing man but as this publication is for traditional jazz and ragtime readers, I’ll try to stay with Larry’s contribution to this music. Still, a brief mention of his amazing “double-life” is in order.
Before Larry Karp began writing his ragtime related mysteries he was a renowned physician. Byron Elliott reminded us on Facebook that Larry’s first career was in Maternal and Fetal Medicine beginning at the University of Texas and then in Seattle, Washington where he pioneered work in that field of reproductive medicine.
But as he shared with me last summer, his real passion was writing—mystery writing actually. Twenty-one years ago he left medicine to write full time. I am now looking at his personally inscribed volum
