Am I the only one to note that Randy Wayne White’s recurring character, Dr. Marion Ford, bears a slight resemblance to the classic Florida drifter character, Travis McGee, created by John D. MacDonald and depicted over the course of 21 novels? ? Or maybe it’s such an obvious observation that no one else thought it was worth the effort to mention. Anyway, we have two middle-aged men with military/covert ops experience in their early adult lives, athletic as youngsters, able to handle themselves well in a fight, and somewhat obsessed with their routine to get back in shape once they detect The beers start to outnumber the pushups.
Let’s take a look at cohorts.
So many excellent creations of fiction have a second fiddle to play, a trusted sidekick loosely orbiting the same planet, though keeping at a distance, who can be counted on to jump in and save the day from time to time. Where would Batman be without Robin? Ernie without Bert? Butch Cassidy without the Sundance Kid? Travis McGee was accompanied on his adventures by a short, stocky bull owned by a man named Meyer. An economist by trade, a fellow shipwreck by nature, Meyer was covered in a thick “black skin” of hair. On the other hand, Doc Ford’s partner was a scrawny, psychic, matching hippie named Tomlinson. If you judge a man by the company he keeps, I’m going to have to call it a draw when choosing which man would be preferable to back you up when you know what hits, you know where.
Woman. You really can’t talk about Travis McGee or Doc Ford without mentioning the parade of female companions in their lives. Each has loved and lost viciously, though Ford seems intent on leaving a trail of illegitimate children across the planet. So far, he has one in Central America and one in Iowa. In both cases, fate intervened, as often happens in fiction, to thwart our hero’s best laid plans. He really wanted to marry each other’s mother, but the first one didn’t want it and the second one went back to his lesbian roots. Oh! You can’t say Travis McGee has fared much better. Although he is apparently more knowledgeable in the area of birth control, he loves and loses with equal abandon.
Physically, McGee is taller, and as a former college football player, he’s ready to take on the best. Ford was a high school wrestler and fights with a grim tenacity born of his psyche and military training as a “special” agent. What if you threw them into the ring together and put a damsel in distress in the middle? Interesting question. One that we leave to MacDonald and White fans to work out in their own minds. As for me, I’m going with Travis for a pinch in this contest.