William Edmund Barrett

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William Edmund Barrett (November 16, 1900 – September 14, 1986) was an American author, best known for the 1962 novella The Lilies of the Field.

Life[]

Barrett was born in New York City November 16, 1900, to John Joseph and Eleanor Margaret (Flannery) Barrett. His family was Roman Catholic.[1] In 1916, he and his family moved to Denver, Colorado. He returned east to attend Manhattan College, from which he was graduated in 1922.

Barrett spent most of his life in Denver.[2] From 1923-1929 he worked as the Rocky Mountain advertising manager for Westinghouse. He married Christine M. Rollman on February 15, 1925.[3]

Deeply interested in aviation, he was a civilian lecturer for the United States Air Force, and worked as an aeronautics consultant with the Denver Public Library[2] from 1941 on. He received a citation from Regis College in 1956.

Writing[]

In a writing career that spanned over 50 years, Barrett's works include short stories, biographies, novels, reviews and non-fiction. In 1929, he began writing freelance for pulp magazines. His first novel, Woman on Horseback was published in 1938. In 1964, he wrote Shepherd of Mankind, a biography of Pope Paul VI.[1]

He was a member of PEN and the Authors League of America. In 1961 he received an Honorary Doctor of Literature degree from Creighton University.[3] He was a member of the National Press Club of Washington, D.C. and the Colorado Authors League, serving as its president from 1943–1944.

Three of his novels were made into films:

Barrett had been in poor health after suffering a heart attack and died in his sleep in Denver September 14, 1986 at the age of eighty-five.[4]

Bibliography[]

Barrett wrote many mystery stories for pulp magazines like
  • Woman on Horseback (1938)
  • Flight from Youth (1939)
  • Aviation as a Business (1945)
  • The Evil Heart (1946)
  • The Number of My Days (1946)
  • To the Last Man (1948)
  • The Left Hand of God (1951)
  • Shadows of the Images (1953)
  • The Sudden Strangers (1956)
  • The Empty Shrine (1958)
  • The First War Planes(1960)
  • The Edge of Things (1960)
  • The Lilies of the Field (1962)
  • The Fools of Time (1963)
  • The Shepherd of Mankind (1964)
  • The Glory Tent (1967)
  • The Red Lacquered Gate (1967)
  • The Wine and the Music (also under the title Pieces of Dreams) (1968)
  • A Woman in the House (1971)
  • The Shape of Illusion (1972)
  • Lady of the Lotus (1975)

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b "William E. Barrett dies at 85; Author of 'Lilies of the Field'", The New York Times, September 17,, 1986
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b King, David A., "The heart of Barrett’s ‘The Lilies of the Field’", The Georgia Bulletin, March 20, 2014
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b "Barrett, William E." snac
  4. ^ "Author William E. Barrett Dies at 85", Los Angeles Times, September 17, 1986

External links[]

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