Ayn Rand was a big fan of the detective fiction of Mickey Spillane -- particularly his hard-hitting stories featuring private eye Mike Hammer. On August 21, The Washington Post ran a long feature about Spillane, including a section detailing the unusual friendship between the two maverick writers. You can read the article online at:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43815-2001Aug21.html