James William Drought (November 4, 1931 – June 2, 1983) was an American author, magazine editor, speech writer and press officer for the Office of Public Relations.

Biography

Drought was born in

Aurora An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

, and grew up near

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. From 1952 to 1954 he served in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

in the

82nd Airborne Division The 82nd Airborne Division is an Airborne forces, airborne infantry division (military), division of the United States Army specializing in Paratrooper, parachute assault operations into denied areasSof, Eric"82nd Airborne Division" ''Spec Ops ...

as a

paratrooper A paratrooper is a military parachutist—someone trained to parachute into a military operation, and usually functioning as part of an airborne force. Military parachutists (troops) and parachutes were first used on a large scale during World ...

stationed at

Fort Bragg Fort Bragg is a military installation of the United States Army in North Carolina, and is one of the largest military installations in the world by population, with around 54,000 military personnel. The military reservation is located within Cum ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

. In 1960, he moved to Norwalk,

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

, with his family, where he was a magazine editor in New York City, New York. In 1969 one of his books was adapted to the movie ''

The Gypsy Moths ''The Gypsy Moths'' is a 1969 American drama film, based on the 1955 novel of the same name by James Drought and directed by John Frankenheimer. The film tells the story of three barnstorming skydivers and their effect on a Midwestern American to ...

'' (1969) featuring

Burt Lancaster Burton Stephen Lancaster (November 2, 1913 – October 20, 1994) was an American actor and producer. Initially known for playing tough guys with a tender heart, he went on to achieve success with more complex and challenging roles over a 45-yea ...

Deborah Kerr Deborah Jane Trimmer CBE (30 September 192116 October 2007), known professionally as Deborah Kerr (), was a British actress. She was nominated six times for the Academy Award for Best Actress. During her international film career, Kerr won a G ...

, 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 ...

in starring roles. A complete collection of his works is preserved at the

Mugar Memorial Library The Mugar Memorial Library is the primary library for study, teaching, and research in the humanities and social sciences for Boston University. It was opened in 1966. Stephen P. Mugar, an Armenian immigrant who was successful in the grocery ...

in the Special Collections Department at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...

. He died on June 2, 1983.

Publications

* ''Boxed in by the Rich, A Parody'' (1950) * ''The Wedding, A Play for Voices'' (1953) * ''The Gypsy Moths, A Fable'' (1955) * ''Memories of A Humble Man, An Irony'' (1957) * ''Mover, A Modern Tragedy'' (1959) * ''ii A Duo, A Story By Two Men'' (1961) * ''The Secret, An Oratorio of Protest'' (1962) * ''The Enemy, A Personal Reminiscence'' (1964) * ''Drugoth, Biography of a Private Person'' (1965) * ''ALIVEMOVIEBOOK, An Adaptation'' (1967) * ''The Master, A Chronicle'' (1970) * ''Sonny Davis Televised, A Comedy'' (1972) * ''Blessed Bob Bunyan, An Inquiry'' (1974) * ''The Book of Names, A Novel-Verite'' (1976) * ''Superstar for President, A Satire'' (1978) * ''Writer in Exile, A Mystery'' (1980) * ''So Long Chicago, A Novel of Improvisational Comedy'' (1982) * ''Queen of Spades'', (unpublished) (1983)

References

External links

James Drought - American Author An Introduction to James DroughtIMDB.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Drought, James William 1931 births 1983 deaths People from Aurora, Illinois Place of death missing