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Burl Barer (born 1947, Walla Walla, Washington) is an American author and literary historian. He is best known for his fiction and non-fiction writings about the character Simon Templar, also known as "The Saint".

Barer's best-known work is The Saint: A Complete History in Print, Radio, Television, and Film 1928-1992 which was first published in 1992 and republished in 2003. He received a 1994 Edgar Award for this book, which is a chronological examination of The Saint in all media.

Considered a leading expert on Simon Templar and the work of the character's creator, Leslie Charteris, Barer has also written two novels, both published in 1997, based upon the character. The first was a novelization of the screenplay for the 1997 film adaptation of The Saint starring Val Kilmer, although the film itself was only loosely based upon Charteris' creation. This was followed by Capture the Saint, which was published by The Saint Club (an organization founded by Charteris) to mark the 70th anniversary of the character's first appearance, in Meet - The Tiger!. It is the most recent Saint story to have been published as of 2006.

Barer is also a prolific author of true crime books and was praised by Pulitzer Prize nominee Jack Olsen for "writing true crime at its best."^[1]

Before becoming an author, Barer was a prominent radio personality in the Pacific Northwest. He also garnered awards in commercial writing and production. He is the uncle of authors Lee Goldberg and Tod Goldberg. He is a Bahá'í[1]. A compilation by Burl Barer published entitled 'Selections from the Holy Qur'án: Translations and Emendations by Shoghi Effendi', as an appendix in James Heggie's Bahá'í References to Judaism, Christianity and Islam (Oxford: George Ronald, 1986)((see item 11, [2])

According to the Internet Movie Database, Barer is also credited with a small acting role in the 1991 film, The Last Ride.[3]

• Spywise: "The Saint in Fact and Fiction: An Interview with Historian and Novelist Burl Barer"

1. ^ Jack Olsen Remembered