Ugliness He Saw Inspired Empathy in Writing, Life

Writers and psychologists make it their business to work their way inside people's heads. In the former, the people are invented; in the latter, they are in need.

Benjamin M. Schutz wrote award-winning mysteries, populated by abusers and kidnappers. As a forensic psychologist who specialized in child-custody evaluations, he delved into such topics as sexual-abuse allegations and domestic violence in custody disputes.

Darkness was part of his work.

And yet, his elder son, Jakob Schutz, 31, recalled seeing the birthday of the family dog, Calypso, noted in his father's day planner. The dog was long gone, yet his father's memory of her was fresh.

The young Schutz also remembered his wedding, at which his father surprised his mother with a beautiful set of earrings.

That sensitivity, combined with his being "a keen observer of the human condition," made his writing believable and powerful, Jakob Schutz said of the father he lost Jan. 17 to a heart attack at age 58.

"Ben was adored by all of us in part because he understood the depth and dark side of human suffering and was therefore an incredibly safe person," said F. Barton Evans of Bozeman, Mont., a fellow psychologist and professional collaborator with Schutz who knew him for more than 30 years. "When you really understand the human potential to cause suffering, you can make choices that move toward the light."

Schutz spoke often about how his discernment of human behavior and people's motivations influenced the development of his characters, said psychologist JoAnne Lindenberger, his wife of 32 years and partner in a private practice run from their Woodbridge home.

She recalled an interview in which he said: " 'Being a psychologist and writing detective fiction are two sides of the same coin. Only the mysteries change.' " The fictional detective for which Schutz is best known is Leo Haggerty, a District-based private investigator who has been compared to the Boston gumshoe known by the single name Spenser, created by author Robert B. Parker.

Schutz and well-known crime novelist George Pelecanos, both native Washingtonians, are the District's first home-grown, modern-day, major crime writers, said another Washington area novelist, James Grady, best known for the thriller "Six Days of the Condor" (1974).

Schutz contacted him in the mid-'80s after a profile of Grady appeared in The Washington Post and Schutz had just sold his first story. The two met for dinner to discuss their writing, and a friendship was launched.

Robert S. Marvin, a psychologist and University of Virginia professor, said he also was contacted "out of the blue" by Schutz almost three years ago, after he read an article Marvin had written. They talked for two to three hours, sparking a professional collaboration and a friendship that included challenging each other to try new things, be they types of food or ways of thinking.