William Owen Steele (December 22, 1917 – June 25, 1979) was an American author from Tennessee.
Biography
Early life
William O. Steele was born on December 22, 1917, in
Franklin
Franklin may refer to:
People
* Franklin (given name)
* Franklin (surname)
* Franklin (class), a member of a historical English social class
Places Australia
* Franklin, Tasmania, a township
* Division of Franklin, federal electoral d ...
,
Tennessee
Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
. He was the son of Isore Steele and Susie Lee. He spent a large amount of his youth exploring the woods around his home. This led to an interest in the history of the area and of its pioneers. He attended Cumberland University.
Career
He became the author of thirty-nine books. He wrote his historical adventure stories in his home on
Signal Mountain, Tennessee
Signal Mountain is a town in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. The town is a suburb of Chattanooga and is located on Walden Ridge. "Signal Mountain" is used as a colloquial name for the part of Walden Ridge close to the town. The town ...
, which was the setting for many of his fiction stories. His book, ''
The Perilous Road
''The Perilous Road'' is an American Civil War novel by William O. Steele, published in 1958. It was awarded the Newbery Honor.
Plot overview
Chris Brabson is a boy whose family lives in the mountains of eastern Tennessee during the Civil War ...
'', which was published in 1958, won the
Newbery Honor in 1959. ''Winter Danger'' earned the
Lewis Carroll Shelf Award in 1962.
Personal life
He was married to another author,
Mary Quintard Govan.
Death
He died on June 25, 1979, at the age of 61.
Bibliography
*''The Golden Root'' (1951)
*''The Buffalo Knife'' (1952)
*''Over-Mountain Boy'' (1952)
*''John Sevier Pioneer Boy'' (1953)
*''Wilderness Journey'' (1953)
*''The Story of Daniel Boone'' (1953)
*''Winter Danger'' (1954)
*''The Story of Leif Ericson'' (1954)
*''Tomahawks and Trouble'' (1955)
*''We Were There on the Oregon Trail'' (1955)
*''Davy Crockett's Earthquake'' (1956)
*''De Soto Child of the Sun'' (1956)
*''Lone Hunt'' (1956)
*''We Were There with the Pony Express'' (1956)
*''Daniel Boone's Echo'' (1957)
*''Flaming Arrows'' (1957)
*''The Perilous Road'' (1958)
*''Andy Jackson's Water Well'' (1959)
*''The Far Frontier'' (1959)
*''The Spooky Thing'' (1960)
*''Francis Marion Young Swamp Fox'' (1962)
*''Westward Adventure'' (1962)
*''The Year of the Bloody Sevens'' (1963)
*''The No-Name Man of the Mountain'' (1964)
*''Wayah of the Real People'' (1964)
*''The Trail Through Danger'' (1965)
*''The Tomahawk Border'' (1966)
*''Old Wilderness Road'' (1968)
*''Hound Dog Zip to the Rescue'' (1970)
*''Henry Woodward of Carolina'' (1972)
*''Triple Trouble for Hound Dog Zip'' (1972)
*''Wilderness Tattoo'' (1972)
*''Eye in the Forest'' (1975)
*''John's Secret Treasure'' (1975)
*''The Man with the Silver Eyes'' (1976)
*''Cherokee Crown of Tannassy'' (1977)
*''The Talking Bones'' (1978)
*''War Party'' (1978)
*''The Magic Amulet'' (1979)
References
External links
*
Book Availability
American children's writers
1917 births
1979 deaths
People from Franklin, Tennessee
Writers from Tennessee
Newbery Honor winners
People from Signal Mountain, Tennessee
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