Robert Ingersoll Wilder (January 25, 1901 in Richmond, Virginia

Richmond, Virginia

Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...

 – August 22, 1974) was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 novelist, playwright

Playwright

A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...

 and screenwriter

Screenwriter

Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...

. The son of a minister-turned-lawyer-turned-doctor-turned-dentist who was still going to college when his son was born, Wilder's childhood was spent at Daytona Beach, Florida

Daytona Beach, Florida

Daytona Beach is a city in Volusia County, Florida, USA. According to 2008 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, the city has a population of 64,211. Daytona Beach is a principal city of the Deltona – Daytona Beach – Ormond Beach, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, which the census bureau estimated had...

. Following a stint in the U.S. Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

 during World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, he was educated at Stetson University

Stetson University

Stetson University is a private university with four colleges and schools located across the I-4 corridor in Central Florida. The primary undergraduate campus is located in DeLand, Florida, USA. In the 2012 U.S...

 and Columbia University

Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

. At various times in his life, Mr. Wilder was a soda jerk

Soda jerk

A soda jerk was a person — typically a youth — who operated the soda fountain in a drugstore, often for the purpose of preparing and serving ice cream soda. This was made by putting flavored syrup into a specially designed tall glass, adding carbonated water and, finally, one or two scoops of ice...

, a ship fitter, a theater usher, a shipping clerk, a newspaper copyboy, a publicity agent (Claudette Colbert

Claudette Colbert

Claudette Colbert was a French-born American-based actress of stage and film.Born in Paris, France and raised in New York City, Colbert began her career in Broadway productions during the 1920s, progressing to film with the advent of talking pictures...

 was among his clients), a radio executive, and a journalist

Journalist

A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...

 (for The New York Sun).

Mr. Wilder traveled widely and contributed stories to The New Yorker

The New Yorker

The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...

, among other magazines. He was author of two plays, Sweet Chariot, based on the life and career of African-American activist Marcus Garvey

Marcus Garvey

Marcus Mosiah Garvey, Jr., ONH was a Jamaican publisher, journalist, entrepreneur, and orator who was a staunch proponent of the Black Nationalism and Pan-Africanism movements, to which end he founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League...

, and Stardust, both produced on Broadway. He also wrote the screenplay for the epic

Epic film

An epic is a genre of film that emphasizes human drama on a grand scale. Epics are more ambitious in scope than other film genres, and their ambitious nature helps to differentiate them from similar genres such as the period piece or adventure film...

 Western

Western (genre)

The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...

, The Big Country

The Big Country

Meanwhile, Terrill insists on riding into the canyon. Initially, Leech refuses to accompany him, and the other men follow his lead. However, after Terrill rides out alone, Leech catches up with him. The remaining hands again align themselves with Leech by following. The group soon rides into a trap...

, in 1958.

Wind from the Carolinas

Wind from the Carolinas (Novel)

Wind from the Carolinas is a novel by Robert Wilder based on the true history of a family throughout the 19th century. It was first published by G.P...

is his only book currently in print.

Mr. Wilder was married and had a son.

Books written by Robert Wilder

• God Has a Long Face (1940)
• Flamingo Road
  Flamingo Road
  Flamingo Road is an American prime time soap opera that aired on NBC. It was first seen as a TV movie on May 12, 1980, and as a series on January 6, 1981, after a rebroadcast of the pilot on December 30, 1980. The show was based on the 1949 movie starring Joan Crawford, which was, in turn, based on...
  
   (1942)
• Out of the Blue (1943)
• Mr. G. Strings Along (1944)
• Written on the Wind
  Written on the Wind
  Written on the Wind is a 1956 American drama film directed by Douglas Sirk. It stars Rock Hudson, Lauren Bacall, Robert Stack and Dorothy Malone....
  
   (1946)
• Bright Feather (1948)
• Wait for Tomorrow (1950)
• And Ride a Tiger (1951)
• Autumn Thunder (1952)
• The Wine of Youth (1955)
• Walk With Evil (1957)
• A Handful of Men (1960)
• The Sun Is My Shadow (1960)
• Plough the Sea (1961)
• Wind from the Carolinas
  Wind from the Carolinas (Novel)
  Wind from the Carolinas is a novel by Robert Wilder based on the true history of a family throughout the 19th century. It was first published by G.P...
  
  (1964)
• Fruit of the Poppy (1965)
• The Sea and the Stars (1967)
• An Affair of Honor (1969)
• The Sound of Drums and Cymbals (1973)

Movies made from Wilder's Works

• Flamingo Road (a movie and a TV series)
• Sol Madrid (Fruit of the Poppy)
• A Stranger in My Arms (And Ride a Tiger)
• Written on the Wind

External links