Charles bernard nordhoff biography of martin luther

This article is about the 20th-century novelist. For the 19th-century journalist and author, see Charles Nordhoff (journalist).

English-born American novelist and traveler

Charles Bernard Nordhoff (February 1, – April 10, ) was an American novelist and traveler, born in England.

Nordhoff is perhaps best known for The Bounty Trilogy, three historical novels he wrote with James Norman Hall: Mutiny on the Bounty (), Men Against the Sea () and Pitcairn's Island ().^[1] During World War I, he served as a driver in the Ambulance Corps as well as an aviator in both the French Air Force's Lafayette Flying Corps and the United States Army Air Service, reaching the rank of lieutenant.

After the war, Nordhoff spent much of his life on the island of Tahiti, where he and Hall wrote a number of successful adventure books, many adapted for film.

Biography

Early life

Charles Nordhoff was born in London, England, on February 1, , to American parents. His father was Walter Nordhoff, a wealthy businessman and author of The Journey of the Flame penned under the name "Antonio de Fierro Blanco".

Charles bernard nordhoff biography of martin luther the reformer Nordin, Hjoerdis —. External links [ edit ]. Nordoff, Paul. Arts Educational magazines Nordhoff, Charles Bernard

His mother, Sarah Cope Whitall, was of PennsylvaniaQuaker stock. Nordhoff's parents returned to the United States with him in , living first in Pennsylvania, then Rhode Island, and finally settling in California by ^[2]

Charles Bernard Nordhoff's grandfather was Charles Nordhoff, a journalist and author of non-fiction books.

Nordhoff himself showed an early interest in writing. His first published work was an article in an ornithological journal, written in when he was just fifteen. After attending The Thacher School in Ojai, California, he entered Stanford University at seventeen, but transferred after one year to Harvard.

Charles bernard nordhoff biography of martin luther king The final installment of the trilogy, Pitcairn's Island, received favorable reviews despite the fact that the authors had to utilize conflicting accounts and incomplete information. His first published work was an article in an ornithological journal, written in when he was just fifteen. Obviously, the writing team eventually discovered that they in fact had quite a lot in common, and were thrilled at the ease of their mutual efforts and the complementary strengths of their writing habits. Nordhoff and Hall ultimately collaborated on six more novels, most of which faired well, arguably in large part because of their solid reputation.

After graduation in , Nordhoff worked for his father's businesses, first spending two years in Mexico managing a sugar plantation, then four years as an executive of a tile and brick company in Redlands, California. He quit in , signed up with the Ambulance Corps, and traveled to France. There he joined other American expatriates as a pilot in the Lafayette Flying Corps.

He finished World War I as a lieutenant in the United States Army Air Service.

Writing career

After leaving the service, Nordhoff remained in Paris, France, where he worked as a journalist and wrote his first book, The Fledgling. In , he and another former Lafayette Squadron pilot, James Norman Hall, who was also an author and journalist, were asked to write a history of that unit.

Neither man had known the other during the war.^[3] Their first literary collaboration, The Lafayette Flying Corps, was published in

The two authors then returned to the United States, sharing a rented house on Martha's Vineyard, until given a commission by Harper's Magazine to write travel articles set in the South Pacific.

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They went to Tahiti in the Society Islands for research and inspiration, and ended up staying, Nordhoff for twenty years, Hall for life. Their second book, Faery Lands of the South Seas, was serialized in Harper's in –21, then published in book form.

Nordhoff married a Tahitian woman, Christianne Vahine Tua Tearae Smidt, with whom he had four daughters and two sons.

He wrote novels on his own for ten years, of which The Derelict () was considered his finest solo effort. Nordhoff and Hall continued to jointly write travel and adventure articles for The Atlantic during the s and early s.^[4] They also co-authored another memoir of World War I, Falcons of France ().

It was Hall who suggested they work on The Bounty Trilogy: Mutiny on the Bounty (), Men Against the Sea () and Pitcairn's Island ().

Nordhoff, who would write in the mornings and spend the afternoons fishing, once explained how he and James Hall worked together. They initially drew up charts of all the characters, then would dole out the chapters to each other.

For their joint works they each made an effort to write in the other's style so as to achieve a reasonably smooth narrative.^[3]

After The Bounty Trilogy, Nordhoff and Hall's most successful book was The Hurricane (). They continued their partnership writing novels until Nordhoff produced one more solo book, In Yankee Windjammers (), a retelling of the ships, sailors, and way of life about which his grandfather had written.

Later life

Nordhoff divorced his first wife in , left Tahiti a few years later, and returned to California, where in he married Laura Grainger Whiley.^[3] During World War II, he had the honor of having a Liberty ship, SS Charles Nordhoff, built in Portland, Oregon, in , named after him.

Biography of john knox By both Nordhoff and Hall were decorated pilots and published writers. The final installment of the trilogy, Pitcairn's Island, received favorable reviews despite the fact that the authors had to utilize conflicting accounts and incomplete information. It is the story of Captain Bligh and the eighteen men who sailed with him in an open boat, traveling 3, miles from the Friendly Islands in the South Pacific to the Dutch colony of Timor in the East Indies. January 8,

Charles Bernard Nordhoff died alone at his home in Montecito, California, on April 10, His body was found the next morning by Tod Ford, who had called on him to work on their book. Newspapers at the time reported the death as an "apparent heart attack". Later sources indicate he had been drinking heavily, was depressed, and may have committed suicide.^[3][5][6] He is buried in the Redlands, California, Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery.^[7][8]

Selected works

• The Fledgling,
• The Lafayette Flying Corps, with James Norman Hall,
• Faery Lands of the South Pacific, with James Norman Hall,
• Picarò,
• The Pearl Lagoon,
• The Derelict,
• Falcons of France, with James Norman Hall,
• The Bounty Trilogy, with James Norman Hall
• The Hurricane, with James Norman Hall,
• The Dark River, with James Norman Hall,
• No More Gas, with James Norman Hall,
• In Yankee Windjammers,
• Botany Bay, with James Norman Hall,
• Men Without Country, with James Norman Hall,
• High Barbaree, with James Norman Hall,

Film treatments

The Nordhoff–Hall books were the source for both the and the MGM films, Mutiny on the Bounty.

The film, The Bounty, was based on other sources, more well-researched views of the actual events of in which the mutiny results not from maltreatment by Captain Bligh but from the lure of South Pacific life for the ship's crew.

In addition to the Bounty story, five other books by Nordhoff, all of them collaborations with James Norman Hall, were turned into films.

(The screenplays were all written by other writers).

Charles bernard nordhoff biography of martin luther More From encyclopedia. January 8, They went to Tahiti in the Society Islands for research and inspiration, and ended up staying, Nordhoff for twenty years, Hall for life. Hollywood immortalized Mutiny on the Bounty in a film version in , again in , and yet again as The Bounty in , making the incredible account of a nearly forgotten true story accessible to millions more people than had already read the books.

See also

References

Further reading

• Twentieth Century Authors, H. E. Wilson & Company, (autobiographical essay)
• American National Biography, Supplement 1, New York, Oxford University Press, (joint entry with James Norman Hall)

External links