Detective novelist Mickey Spillane, creator of Mike Hammer, has died. “Scorned by many critics for his artless plots, his reliance on unlikely coincidence and a simplistic understanding of the law, Mr. Spillane nevertheless achieved instant success with his first novel…. Mr. Spillane referred to his own material as ‘the chewing gum of American literature’ and laughed at the critics. ‘I’m not writing for the critics,’ he said. ‘I’m writing for the public.'”