William Charles Anderson (better known as William C. Anderson; May 7, 1920, La Junta, Colorado – May 16, 2003, in

Fairfield, California Fairfield is a city in and the county seat of Solano County, California, in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay sub-region of the San Francisco Bay Area. It is generally considered the midpoint between the cities of San Francisco ...

) was the author of more than twenty novels, historical and true life stories, and author or coauthor of several screenplays for film and television, including the adaptation of his own ''

Bat*21 ''Bat*21'' is a 1988 American war film directed by Peter Markle, and adapted from the book by William C. Anderson, novelist and retired United States Air Force colonel. Set during the Vietnam War, the film is a dramatization based upon the rescu ...

,'' which was adapted into a film, starring Gene Hackman and Danny Glover, and ''Hurricane Hunters,'' was made into the television film ''

Hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

'', an ''

ABC Movie of the Week ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

'' starring

Martin Milner Martin Sam Milner (December 28, 1931 – September 6, 2015) was an American actor and radio host. He is best known for his performances on two television series: '' Route 66'', which aired on CBS from 1960 to 1964, and ''Adam-12'', which a ...

Life and career

The son of Robert Smith Anderson and Fanny (née Holly), Anderson was educated at Boise Junior College, Fort Hays College and the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...

.Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature, vol. 2, R. Reginald, 1979, pg 798 He served in the U.S. Air Force during World War II up through the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

, retiring as a colonel. He began writing in the 1950s, with a series of columns for ''MATS Flyer,'' the magazine of the Air Force's Military Air Transport Service (later ''MAC Flyer'', after MATS became the

Military Airlift Command The Military Airlift Command (MAC) is an inactive United States Air Force major command (MAJCOM) that was headquartered at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois. Established on 1 January 1966, MAC was the primary strategic airlift organization of th ...

). He wrote short stories and later novels in various genres, including science fiction. Several of his books were autobiographical accounts of the adventures of Anderson, his wife, Dortha (née Power, m. 1948), and their children, Ann (

Ann Kiessling Ann A. Kiessling is an American reproductive biologist and a researcher in human parthenogenic stem cell research at The Bedford Research Foundation. She was an associate professor in teaching hospitals of Harvard Medical School (Brigham and Wome ...

), Scott ( Scott Charles Anderson) and Holly. His fiction books all featured a supporting character named Colonel Cornelius C. (for "Catastrophe") Callaghan. Callaghan, a career Air Force officer, is a wheeler-dealer who uses his detailed knowledge and skill to help the lead characters, often despite regulations or higher authority. In addition to his books, Anderson wrote a monthly column for ''

Motor Home A motorhome (or motor coach) is a type of self-propelled recreational vehicle (RV) which offers mobile living accommodation. Features Motorhomes usually have sleeping spaces for two to eight people. Each sleeping space is either fixed or conv ...

,'' under the titles ''Back Roads'' and ''Off Ramp.'' The last column was published two months before his death.

Books

* *''Five, Four, Three, Two, One—Pfft'' (1960) *''Penelope'' (1963) *''Adam M-1'' (1964) *''Pandemonium on the Potomac'' (1966) *''The Gooney Bird'' (1968) *''The Two-ton Albatross, or Across a Transcontinental Highway in a Travel Trailer... ''(1969) *''The Apoplectic Palm Tree'' (1969) *''Roll up the Wallpaper, We're Moving'' (1970) *''Hurricane Hunters'' (1972) *''The Headstrong Houseboat'' (1972) *''The Great Bicycle Expedition: Freewheeling through Europe... ''(1973) *''Different Spokes for Different Folks'' (1973) *''Penelope, the Damp Detective'' (1974) *''When the Offspring Have Sprung'' (1978) *''Home Sweet Home Has Wheels, or, Please Don't Tailgate the Real Estate'' (1979) *''BAT-21'' (1980) *''Bomber Crew 369'' (1986) *''Taming Mighty Alaska: an RV Odyssey'' (1990) *''Lady Bluebeard'' (1994) - the true story of serial killer

Lyda Southard Lyda Southard (October 16, 1892 – February 5, 1958), also known as Lyda Anna Mae Trueblood, was an American female suspected serial killer. It was suspected that she had killed her four husbands, a brother-in-law, and her daughter by using arsen ...

*''How to Survive Hospital Care, or "Why They Keep Bedpans in the Freezer" ''(1996)

References

External links

Biography at Boise State
*
Amazon.com Author Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, William Charles 1920 births 2003 deaths 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American male writers American male novelists American science fiction writers United States Air Force officers People from La Junta, Colorado United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II Military personnel from Colorado