John Alexander Macdonald was the third of five children. John Dann MacDonald (July 24, 1916 - December 28, 1986) was an American writer of novels and short stories, known for his thrillers. John D MacDonald was an American author of science fiction, fantasy, mystery and thriller books best known for his Travis McGee series. During WW2, he rose to the rank of Colonel (, and while serving in the Army and in the Far East, sent a short story to his wife for sale, successfully. John Alexander Macdonald was born John Alexander Mcdonald in Ramshorn parish in Glasgow, Scotland, on 10 (official record) or 11 (father's journal) January 1815. John D. MacDonald (1916-1986) was an American author who was best known for crime and suspense novels, including the popular Travis McGee novels. John D. MacDonald’s most popular book is Cape Fear. He was born in Sharon, Pennsylvania but later moved out to Europe on his quest for adventure and photography. MacDonald was a prolific author of crime and suspense novels, many of them set in his adopted home of Florida. His father was named Hugh, an unsuccessful merchant, who had married John's mother, Helen Shaw, on 21 October 1811. John D. MacDonald has 239 books on Goodreads with 427713 ratings. Most of the current Florida mystery writers acknowledge JDM’s impact on … A brief bio of John D. MacDonald This website is devoted to John D. MacDonald, author of 78 books, including the famous Travis McGee series. JDM is well-known in mystery fiction writing, especially for his books with Florida as a setting. MacDonald is very highly regarded by his fellow authors, including Dean Koontz and Stephen King . John D. MacDonald was born in Sharon, Pa, and educated at the Universities of Pennsylvania, Syracuse and Harvard, where he took an MBA in 1939.