Mike McGrady (1933-2012) was a columnist and author best known for organizing one of the most famous literary hoaxes of the twentieth century with
Naked Came the Stranger (1969). Born in New York City, he studied at Yale University under Robert Penn Warren, then joined
Newsday in 1962 after a stint in the army. Inspired by the success of steamy bestsellers like
Valley of the Dolls, McGrady challenged his fellow
Newsday reporters to write a book so smutty and badly written that it would become a surefire hit. Two dozen writers contributed scenes and published
Naked Came the Stranger under the penname Penelope Ashe. The book sold twenty thousand copies before McGrady and his fellow authors revealed the hoax, and it went on to become a cult classic. McGrady wrote fifteen books under his own name, including
A Dove in Vietnam (1968) and
The Kitchen Sink Papers (1975), a bestselling account of a year spent as a stay-at-home dad.
Penelope Ashe, a fictional writer, was credited as authoring the 1969 bestseller
Naked Came the Stranger. Later that same year, it was revealed that the book was the brainchild of twenty-four journalists, led by Mike McGrady, who aimed to expose America's mindlessly vulgar literary culture with a novel deliberately overloaded with sexual content. The novel saw an even bigger rise in popularity once the hoax was revealed. Ashe was portrayed by Billie Young, McGrady's sister-in-law, for photographs and meetings with publishers.
