Scott O'Dell

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Scott O'Dell

Born Odell Gabriel Scott
May 23, 1898
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Died October 16, 1989 (aged 91)
Mount Kisco, New York, U.S.
Occupation Novelist
Nationality American
Writing period 1934 – 1989
Genres Children's literature
Notable work(s) Island of the Blue Dolphins (1960)
Notable award(s)
Newbery Medal (1961)
Spouse(s) Elizabeth Hall
Official website

Scott O'Dell (May 23, 1898 – October 16, 1989) was an American children's author who wrote 26 novels for youngsters, along with three adult novels and four nonfiction books. He was most famously the author of the children's novel Island of the Blue Dolphins (1960), which won the 1961 Newbery Medal as well as a number of other awards. Other award winning books by O'Dell include The King's Fifth (1966), Black Star, Bright Dawn (1988), The Black Pearl (1967), and Sing Down the Moon (1970); which were all also Newbery Honor award books. O'Dell wrote primarily historical fiction. Many of his children's novels are about historical California and Mexico.

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[edit] Biography

Scott O'Dell was born Odell Gabriel Scott,[1] on Terminal Island in Los Angeles, California, to parents May Elizabeth Gabriel and Bennett Mason Scott. He attended multiple colleges, including Occidental College in 1919, the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1920, Stanford University in 1920-1921, and the University of Rome La Sapienza in 1925. During World War II, he served in the U.S. Air Force. Before becoming a full time writer he worked in Hollywood as a cameraman and technical director, as a book columnist for the Los Angeles Mirror, and as book review editor for the Los Angeles Daily News. It was during his period as a newspaper columnist that an editor transposed his name into Scott O'Dell, which Scott liked well enough to legally change his name to.

O'Dell began writing both nonfiction and fiction books for adults and articles in 1934. In the late 1950s he began writing children’s books. Scott O’Dell received the Hans Christian Andersen Award for lifetime achievement in 1972. In 1976 he received the University of Southern Mississippi Silver Medallion, and the Regina Medal in 1978.

In 1981, he established the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction, an award for $5,000 that recognizes outstanding works of historical fiction. The winners must be published in English by a U.S. publisher and be set in the New World (North, Central, and South America). In 1986, The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books awarded O’Dell this same award.

Scott O’Dell died of prostate cancer on October 15, 1989 at the age of 91.[2]

[edit] Film adaptations

There have been several film adaptations of O'Dell's work. Island of the Blue Dolphins has been translated into a number of languages and was made into a movie in 1964, starring Celia Kaye, Larry Domasin, Ann Daniel, and George Kennedy. In 1978, Saul Swimmer produced and directed a film version of The Black Pearl with Gilbert Roland and Mario Custodio. The King's Fifth was adapted into the 1982 television anime series The Mysterious Cities of Gold, a Japan-France co-production that was aired in several different countries.

[edit] Bibliography

  • Island of the Blue Dolphins, 1960
  • The King's Fifth, 1966
  • The Black Pearl, 1967
  • The Dark Canoe, 1968
  • Journey to Jericho, 1969
  • Sing Down the Moon, 1970
  • The Treasure of Topo-El-Bampo, 1972
  • The Cruise of the Arctic Star, 1973
  • Child of Fire, 1974
  • The Hawk That Dare Not Hunt by Day, 1975
  • Zia, 1976
  • The 290, 1976
  • Carlota, 1977
  • Kathleen, Please Come Home, 1978
  • The Captive, 1979
  • Sarah Bishop, 1980
  • The Feathered Serpent, 1981
  • The Spanish Smile, 1982
  • The Amethyst Ring, 1983
  • The Castle in the Sea, 1983
  • Alexandra, 1984
  • The Road to Damietta, 1985
  • Streams to River, River to the Sea: A Novel of Sacagawea, 1986
  • The Serpent Never Sleeps, 1987
  • Black Star, Bright Dawn, 1988
  • My Name Is Not Angelica, 1989
  • Thunder Rolling in the Mountains, 1991
  • Venus Among the Fishes, 1995

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Guide to the Scott O’Dell Papers, 1966-1976". Northwest Digital Archives at Washington State University (2007). Retrieved on 2008-05-05.
  2. ^ "Scott O'Dell, a Children's Author Of Historical Fiction, Dies at 91" by Edwin McDowell. The New York Times (1989-10-17). Retrieved on 2008-04-10.
  • Scott O'Dell's website
  • Commire, Anne (ed.) (1990). Something About the Author Vol. 60. Gale Research Inc.: Detroit.

[edit] External links

Persondata
NAME O'Dell, Scott
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Scott, Odell Gabriel (birth name)
SHORT DESCRIPTION Novelist, children's author
DATE OF BIRTH 23 May 1898
PLACE OF BIRTH Los Angeles, California, U.S.
DATE OF DEATH 16 October 1989
PLACE OF DEATH Mount Kisco, New York, U.S.