I know this isn't exactly where this post should be put, but didn't really want it buried in the genre forum where I was unlikely to get any responses.

Have you ever been floored by learning something about a favorite author that you didn't know before?

This summer I have gotten addicted to the crime thriller series by Stephen White since the main character/crimesolver is a psychologist and I spent my career working in the mental health field. Today I was surprised to discover that White is also the author of dozens of Barney books!   YES, the purple dinosaur!  I just about fell off my chair................. 

Wow,  I never heard of authors writing in two such different genres. 

I was pretty shocked when I discovered mystery writer Anne Perry was an actual murderer.

ETA - I see a lot of threads like this in Hidden Gems, and they seem to get a decent amount of attention!

My first thought was Anne Perry.

Last year, I was reading a book about the Mafia recently and liking it so I looked the author up on online.  Turns out he was a white supremacist and Neo-Nazi leader who died in prison.  Big shock there. No sign of it in the book at all. It was all about the mob in Sicily and why it took such a hold there and the damage it's doing to the country.

The author of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was none other than Ian Fleming who is better known for his James Bond books.