Thus, even late entries in the series remain
set in the 1980’s. For example, inS Is for Si-
lence(2005), Kinsey goes to a strip mall
(not a “big box,” or warehouse, center) in
search of a pay phone (there are no cell
phones yet), and Henry goes to the theater
to see the 1987 filmNo Way Outstarring
Kevin Costner. Grafton’s stories do, how-
ever, implicitly reference events beyond
Kinsey’s time frame. For example, a sub-
plot inP Is for Peril(2001) seems to have
been inspired by the widely publicized
Menendez brothers murder trial of the
1990’s.
Impact Sue Grafton’s success helped
pave the way for many female-authored de-
tective series with tough female protago-
nists, including Patricia Cornwell’s Kay
Scarpetta series, Nevada Barr’s Anne Pi-
geon series, and Linda Barnes’s Carlotta
Carlyle series, all of which enjoyed wide-
spread popularity in the 1990’s.
Further Reading
Kaufman, Natalie Hevener, and Carol
McGinnis Kay.“G” Is for Grafton: The
World of Kinsey Millhone. New York:
Henry Holt, 1997.
Mizejewski, Linda. Hardboiled and High
Heeled: The Woman Detective in Popular Culture. New
York: Routledge, 2004.
Christine Photinos
See also Crime; Literature in Canada; Literature
in the United States; Menendez brothers murder
case; Publishing.
Graves, Michael
Identification American architect and designer
Born July 9, 1934; Indianapolis, Indiana
During the 1990’s, Graves revolutionized the design of ev-
er yday objects and the way they are marketed.
By the 1990’s, Michael Graves had already estab-
lished himself as an important thinker and teacher
of architecture, with many well-known building
commissions. His inclusion as one of the New York
Five (with Peter Eisenman, Richard Meier, Charles
Gwathmey, and John Hejduk), an unofficial group
of modernist architects who had made their rep-
utations during the 1970’s in reaction to the de-
signs and issues of the 1960’s, guaranteed his place
in cultural history. Graves’s architectural assign-
ments have included museums, college buildings,
business towers, arts centers, libraries, hotels, and
residences. Commissions during the 1990’s in-
cluded the Team Disney Building in Burbank, Cali-
fornia, and two resort hotels for Disney World in
Orlando, Florida.
Graves, however, was interested in more than
buildings by the 1990’s. With his two firms, Michael
Graves & Associates (specializing in architecture
and interior design) and Michael Graves Design
Group (product and graphic design), he had found
new media for his interests. He designed the
workspaces and chairs for his seventy employees and
formed partnerships to explore applications of his
aesthetic to fabrics, dinnerware, jewelry, lighting fix-
tures, and housewares. His signature touch involves380 Graves, Michael The Nineties in America
Michael Graves poses with a teapot he designed. His partnership with Target
stores made him a household name.(AP/Wide World Photos)