“SWF” was “a real game changer for him,” said award-winning book critic Oline Cogdill, who reviews mysteries for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and other publications. “Before that, he had written a lot of things in the 1970s and 1980s that were well-received, solid books. ‘SWF’ put him on the next level. But he still never got the attention that he deserved.”
During winters in Sarasota, Lutz was a regular at the Liars Club, a group of writers who gather weekly to play poker and swap stories. The group was founded in 1953 by authors John D. MacDonald and MacKinlay Kantor.
“For many years, he joined us each Friday. He was a very kind, gentle and quiet man with a wry sense of humor,” said Richard “Doc” Glidewell, the club's historian.