# Novels by Famous Non-Writers **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 31, 2009, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-by-famous-non-writers/483839 "2009-01-31T05:20:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2009, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-by-famous-non-writers/483839/41 "2009-02-01T11:27:19Z")
> [@Darryl\_Lict](#): > > I’ve got a signed copy of _Mirror Friend, Mirror Foe_, co-written by George Takei. I haven’t had the heart to read it, but it might actually be worth something. I read that when it came out. I seem to remember liking it but I remember nothing else. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2009, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-by-famous-non-writers/483839/42 "2009-02-01T11:52:07Z")
Darryl Lict writes: \> I’ve got a signed copy of Mirror Friend, Mirror Foe, co-written by George Takei. I \> haven’t had the heart to read it, but it might actually be worth something. I’ve got a signed copy too. Takei has been to a lot of conventions and signed a lot of books. It probably isn’t worth as much as you think. ---
**Author:** ![Ian\_D.Bergkamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Ian\_D.Bergkamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ian_D.Bergkamp)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2009, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-by-famous-non-writers/483839/43 "2009-02-01T13:43:07Z")
Chris Elliott wrote a novel called The Shroud of the Thwacker, about a modern detective who travels back to the late 1800s to stop a serial killer. It was written as a comedy, but it wasn’t funny. At least, not intentionally. It could be funny in a MST3K-subject kind of way. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2009, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-by-famous-non-writers/483839/44 "2009-02-01T22:08:51Z")
> [@November](#): > > …Disraeli, of course, wrote many novels. Heh. He was quoted as saying, “When I want to read a good book, I write one.” I read a very bad scifi novel which Newt Gingrich wrote before he became Speaker of the House. A friend of mine has read his Civil War alternate-history books and says they’re pretty good. ---
**Author:** ![Jettboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/85e7bf/32.png) [@Jettboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jettboy)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2009, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-by-famous-non-writers/483839/45 "2009-02-01T22:45:25Z")
Craig Ferguson, the late night talk show host and comedian, wrote _“Between the Bridge and the River”_ Really, a terrific first novel. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2009, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-by-famous-non-writers/483839/46 "2009-02-02T03:44:47Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Siam Sam writes: > > \> This probably does not count, but Margaret Mitchell was a newspaper writer > \> when she wrote Gone with the Wind. Wasn’t that her only novel? If that’s true, > \> then it was her only foray into fiction. > > People, read the title of the thread. The OP doesn’t ask for writers who had other jobs. Most writers had other jobs. It’s nearly impossible to get started in writing without having another job. This thread is about people who were famous for something other than writing who then wrote a novel. For what it’s worth, I believe Mitchell was a fairly well-known local socialite and popular newspaper columnist before writing her novel. ---
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2009, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-by-famous-non-writers/483839/47 "2009-02-02T06:40:51Z")
Don Imus wrote _God’s Other Son_, a farce about televangelist who’s a supposed brother to Jesus. Worth a few chuckles every now and then, but it wasn’t very good. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2009, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-by-famous-non-writers/483839/48 "2009-02-02T10:14:21Z")
Astronaut Buzz Aldrin co-wrote a couple of science fiction novels with John Barnes. I don’t know how involved Buzz was in their creation. I read one; It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t good enough for me to remember what it was about. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2009, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-by-famous-non-writers/483839/49 "2009-02-02T13:23:36Z")
> [@](#): > > I’ve got a signed copy of Mirror Friend, Mirror Foe, co-written by George Takei. I haven’t had the heart to read it, but it might actually be worth something. I’ve read it. It’s OK (futurstic ninja who swordfights and has a real invisibility cape). I suspect co-author Robert Lynn Aspirin had more to do with the writing than Takei, though. Walter Koenig has co-written a couple of SF novels, and Shatner’s name, as mentioned above, is on a few. I’m surprised more Trek actors dont have their names on books. Nimoy, I suspect, really did write his books. But they’re not fiction, and I haven’t read them. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2009, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-by-famous-non-writers/483839/50 "2009-02-02T13:29:21Z")
> [@](#): > > I’ve got a signed copy of Mirror Friend, Mirror Foe, co-written by George Takei. I haven’t had the heart to read it, but it might actually be worth something. I’ve read it. It’s OK (futurstic ninja who swordfights and has a real invisibility cape). I suspect co-author Robert Lynn Aspirin had more to do with the writing than Takei, though. Walter Koenig has co-written a couple of SF novels, and Shatner’s name, as mentioned above, is on a few. I’m surprised more Trek actors dont have their names on books. Nimoy, I suspect, really did write his books. But they’re not fiction, and I haven’t read them. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2009, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-by-famous-non-writers/483839/51 "2009-02-02T13:34:26Z")
> [@](#): > > I’ve got a signed copy of Mirror Friend, Mirror Foe, co-written by George Takei. I haven’t had the heart to read it, but it might actually be worth something. I’ve read it. It’s OK (futurstic ninja who swordfights and has a real invisibility cape). I suspect co-author Robert Lynn Aspirin had more to do with the writing than Takei, though. Walter Koenig has co-written a couple of SF novels, and Shatner’s name, as mentioned above, is on a few. I’m surprised more Trek actors dont have their names on books. Nimoy, I suspect, really did write his books. But they’re not fiction, and I haven’t read them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-by-famous-non-writers/483839.md?page=2)