clipped from: www.chron.com His son said Whearley wrote several romance-mystery novels, which were published by Harlequin's Intrigue series. He used the pseudonym "Fran Earley" from portions of his wife's first and last names.
Jay Whearley said his father made his son and wife, Frances, swear never to reveal his association with romance novels. But the word did get out among some of his friends who would later tease him.
"I'd joke to him about it sometimes," Jay Whearley said. "But one time he quietly held up a royalty check he'd just received in the mail for a Portuguese-language reprint of one of the books, and said, 'Laugh at me now, pal.' "