| W. Scott Corbett | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 27, 1913 Kansas City, Missouri |
| Died | March 6, 2006 Providence, Rhode Island |
| Occupation | Novelist |
| Nationality | American |
| Period | 1950 - 1985 |
W. Scott Corbett (b. July 27, 1913 in Kansas City, Missouri; d. March 6, 2006 in Providence, Rhode Island) was an American novelist and educator. He wrote a total of 89 books; he began with five adult novels, then began writing books for children, eventually writing sixty-nine such books. His best known book is The Lemonade Trick, a novel for children. One of his books, entitled The Reluctant Landlord (1950), was made into the 1951 film Love Nest. He wrote his first children's book, Susie Sneakers, in 1956.
Corbett received a bachelor of journalism degree from the University of Missouri in 1934. During World War II he was a member of the 42nd Infantry Division of the United States Army. In this position, he also served as a correspondent for Stars and Stripes, the United States's military newspaper in Europe, and also served as the last editor of Yank, the Army Weekly, an Army magazine based in Paris. He was one of the first correspondents to enter the Dachau concentration camp in Germany just before the end of the war.
Corbett moved with his wife to Providence, Rhode Island in 1957, and, in addition to his writing, taught at the Moses Brown School. He died at his home in Providence at the age of ninety-two. He was a member of the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame. His novel Cutlass Island won the Edgar Allan Poe award in 1962 from the Mystery Writers of America as the best mystery written for children. In 1976, The Home Run Trick won the Mark Twain Award, an honor voted by the schoolchildren of Missouri. Many of Corbett's books were written while at sea, as he and his wife traveled extensively via freighter.