Frank Gill Slaughter (February 25, 1908 – May 17, 2001), pen-name Frank G. Slaughter, pseudonym C.V. Terry, was an American novelist and physician whose books sold more than 60 million copies. His novels drew on his own experience as a doctor and his interest in history and the Bible. Through his novels, he often introduced readers to new findings in medical research and new medical technologies.

Biography

Slaughter was born in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, the son of Stephen Lucious Slaughter and Sarah "Sallie" Nicholson Gill. When he was about five years old, his family moved to a farm near Berea, North Carolina, which is west of Oxford, North Carolina. He earned a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

from Trinity College (now

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

) at 17 and went to medical school at

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

. He began writing fiction in 1935 while a physician at Riverside Hospital in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...

, paying off a $60 typewriter at $5 a month. He rewrote the manuscript of ''That None Should Die'', a semi-autobiographical story of a young doctor, six times before Doubleday accepted it. Several of Slaughter's novels became films, including ''Sangaree'', made into the 1953 film of that name starring Fernando Lamas; and ''Doctors' Wives'', made into the 1971 film of the same name starring

Dyan Cannon Dyan Cannon (born Samille Diane Friesen; January 4, 1937) is an American actress, director, screenwriter, producer, and editor. Her accolades include a Saturn Award, a Golden Globe Award, three Academy Award nominations, and a star on the Ho ...

and

Gene Hackman Eugene Allen Hackman (born January 30, 1930) is an American retired actor and former novelist. In a career that has spanned more than six decades, Hackman has won two Academy Awards, four Golden Globes, one Screen Actors Guild Award, two BAFTAs ...

. Other books by Slaughter include ''The Purple Quest'', ''Surgeon, U.S.A.'', ''Tomorrow's Miracle'' and ''The Scarlet Cord''. Slaughter's last novel, ''Transplant'', was published in 1987. Most of the novels credited under his C.V. Terry pseudonym were republished under his real name. Slaughter died May 17, 2001 in Jacksonville, Florida. William DuBois was a silent writer with Slaughter on 27 of Slaughter's historical novels."Paid Notice: Deaths DUBOIS, WILLIAM"
''New York Times'', March 19, 1997

Books

Fiction

*''That None Should Die'' (1941) *''Spencer Brade M.D.'' (1942) *''Battle Surgeon'' (1944) *''Air Surgeon'' (1945) *''A Touch of Glory'' (1945) *''In a Dark Garden'' (1946) *''The Golden Isle'' (1947) *''Sangaree'' (1948) *''The Divine Mistress'' (1949) *''The Stubborn Heart'' (1950) *''Fort Everglades'' (1951) *''The Road to Bithynia'' (1951) *''East Side General'' (1952) *''The Cross and The Crown'' (1953) *''Storm Haven'' (1953) *''The Galileans: The story of Mary Magdalene'' (1953) *''The Song of Ruth'' (1954) *''The Healer'' (1955) *''Flight From Natchez'' (1955) *''The Scarlet Cord: A novel of the woman of Jericho'' (1956) *''The Warrior'' (1956) *''Sword and Scalpel'' (1957) *''The Mapmaker'' (1957) *''Daybreak'' (1958) *''The Crown and the Cross: The Life of Christ'' (1959) *''Lorena'' (1959) *''The Thorn Of Arimathea'' (1959) *''The Land and the Promise: The Greatest Stories of the Bible Retold'' (1960) *''Pilgrims in Paradise'' (1960) *''The Curse of Jezebel'' (1961) *''Epidemic!'' (1961) *''David, Warrior and King'' (1962) * ''Tomorrow's Miracle'' (1962) *''Devil's Harvest'' (1963) *''A Savage Place'' (1964) *''Constantine, The Miracle of the Flaming Cross'' (1965) *''The Purple Quest'' (1965) *''Doctors' Wives'' (1967) *''God's Warrior'' (1967) *''The Sins of Herod'' (1968) *''Upon this Rock'' (1968) *''Surgeon's Choice: A Novel of Medicine Tomorrow'' (1969) *''Countdown'' (1970) *''Code Five'' (1971) *''Convention M.D.'' (1972) *''Women in White'' (1974) *''The Stonewall Brigade'' (1975) *''Devil's Gamble: A Novel of Demonology'' (1977) *''Plague Ship'' (1977) *''Gospel Fever'' (1980) *''Doctors at Risk'' (1983) *''No Greater Love'' (1985) *''Transplant'' (1987)

As C. V. Terry (some later republished credited to Slaughter)

*''Buccaneer Surgeon'' (1954) *''Darien Venture'' (1955) *''Buccaneer Doctor'' (1955) *''The Golden Ones'' (1957) *''The Deadly Lady of Madagascar'' (1959)

Nonfiction

*''Immortal Magyar:

Semmelweis Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis (; hu, Semmelweis Ignác Fülöp ; 1 July 1818 – 13 August 1865) was a Hungarian physician and scientist, who was an early pioneer of antiseptic procedures. Described as the "saviour of mothers", he discovered that t ...

, the Conqueror of Childbed Fever'' (1950) *''The New Science of Surgery'' (1946) *''Medicine for Moderns: The New Science of

Psychosomatic Medicine Psychosomatic medicine is an interdisciplinary medical field exploring the relationships among social, psychological, behavioral factors on bodily processes and quality of life in humans and animals. The academic forebear of the modern field of ...

'' (1947)

References

*
"Frank G. Slaughter, novelist and physician, dead"
Associated Press, May 23, 2001.

Paul Lewis, ''New York Times'', May 23, 2001. *Kevin M. McCarthy: ''The Book Lover's Guide to Florida: Authors, Books and Literary Sites''. Pineapple Press Inc. 1992
p. 43-45

External links

Slaughter at fantasticfiction.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Slaughter, Frank 20th-century American novelists American male novelists Physicians from Florida Novelists from Florida Writers from Washington, D.C. Novelists from North Carolina Duke University Trinity College of Arts and Sciences alumni Johns Hopkins University alumni 1908 births 2001 deaths People from Alexander County, North Carolina Medical fiction writers 20th-century American male writers