In a 1949 press release sent out after the publication of his first novel, “I’ll Be Right Home, Ma,” about a light-heavyweight fighter with “a sweet right-hand sock,” Henry Denker declared his belief that “a writer should be active in several forms of his trade.” He added: “Writing is a business and should be practiced as such. On days when you think you can’t possibly write a line you do it anyhow.”

A lawyer who gave up practicing to take up a writing career, Mr. Denker is best known for his stage work. He wrote seven plays that reached Broadway, including Time Limit!, and A Case of Libel.

Mr. Denker was born on Madison Avenue at 97th Street in Manhattan, and after his father’s fur business went bankrupt, the family lived in reduced circumstances in Brooklyn and later the Bronx, where he attended Morris High School. He later graduated from New York University, where he also earned a law degree.

Mr. Denker was a writer, who wrote Broadway plays about, among other things, Sigmund Freud and the Korean War; radio scripts based on the Bible; television movies about war crimes and vigilantism; and novels about — in addition to boxers — doctors, lawyers, movie people and various social issues. His prolific career is evidence that he followed his own prescription.

Source: The New York Times