Al Hine

Al Hine (1915–1974) was a reporter, novelist, and movie producer who wrote numerous books including Lord Love a Duck, made into a movie starring Tuesday Weld and Roddy McDowall, and pop novels based on the Bewitched TV series and the Beatles' movie Help!.

Personal

In 1950, Hine married children's literature author Sesyle Joslin with whom he often collaborated on writing projects.

Writing career

During World War II, Hine wrote for Yank Magazine as a staff correspondent from July 1943 to December 1945.^[1] He developed a wry, smooth writing style filled with sexual innuendo that later served him well in crafting popular novels. For example, in the July 7, 1944 issue of Yank Hine wrote about a lucky fighting cock in "Yanks at Home Abroad":^[2]

Persian Field Command – Army pets range from the auk to the zebra, but a trucking station in northern Iran proudly claims a simple barnyard fowl as its mascot. The rooster, a medium-sized Mediterranean Red, doesn’t even have a name as yet, but if you believe its owner, T-5 Wallace Grube of New York, N.Y., it is potentially the best fighting cock in the history of the sport.

The Red, a well-fed fowl with an iridescent feathered neck that sparkles like the rainbow, has one of the finest harems in the Moslem Middle East. He struts about the yard daily, the idol of six curvesome hens and the envy of his GI masters.

Hine and his wife Sesyle Joslin coauthored the children's book Is There a Mouse in the House? (Macmillan, 1965). Under the name "G. B. Kirtland" they wrote One Day in Ancient Rome (Harcourt, 1961), One Day in Elizabethan England (Harcourt, 1962), and One Day in Aztec Mexico (Harcourt, 1963).

Hine's novel Lord Love a Duck (Atheneum: 1961) told the story of Alan Musgrave a confident high school student skilled at karate and hypnosis who calls himself 'Mollymauk' after a rare bird. One day Musgrave runs into attractive Barbara Ann Greene and uses his talents to help her get what she wants in life. The novel was made into an award winning comic film in 1966 starring Tuesday Weld and Roddy McDowell.

His novel Bewitched (1965: Dell Publishing) was a spinoff of the popular TV series by the same name. According to the publisher, "They were young, married, and doing what comes supernaturally!"

Hine was a frequent contributor to magazines such as The Saturday Review, Collier's Weekly, and the Saturday Evening Post.^[3] He also dabbled in film and was listed as an executive producer of the movie Lord of the Flies.^[4]

Partial Bibliography

• D-Day: The Invasion of Europe (American Heritage Publishing: 1961)
• Lord Love a Duck (Atheneum: 1961) (information on the movie adaptation is at Lord Love a Duck)
• The Innocent Infidels (1961)
• The Unsinkable Molly Brown (Movie tie-in) (1964)
• This Land Is Mine: An Anthology of American Verse (1965)
• Bewitched (Television show tie-in) (Dell: 1965)
• The Beatles in Help(Movie tie-in)(1965)
• Bus Riley's Back in Town (1965)
• Our Agent in Rome is Missing (1973)
• Juggernaut (1974)
• Brother Owl, a fictional memoir of the Mohawk chief Joseph Brant (1980)

References