Herbert Best
{{More citations needed|date=March 2024}}{{short description|American novelist (1894–1980)}}
{{Infobox writer
| image = Herbert Best with pipe Life.png
| caption = Best {{circa}} 1944
| alt = A middle-aged man with black hair and a moustache smokes a pipe
| name = Herbert Best
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1894|03|25}}
| birth_name = Oswald Herbert Best
| death_date = July 1980 (aged 86)
| occupation = Writer
| nationality = American
| genre = Children's literature
Science fiction
| notableworks = {{plainlist|
}}
| spouse = Erick Berry
}}
Oswald Herbert Best (March 25, 1894 – July 1980) was a British-American author of children's literature and science fiction.
Early and personal life
Best was born on March 25, 1894. He married fellow author Allena Champlin, better known by her pen name Erick Berry.{{Cite web|url=http://erickberry.ponymadbooklovers.co.uk/|title=Erick Berry (1892–1974)|publisher=Pony Mad Book Lovers|accessdate=August 7, 2017}} He held bachelor's degrees in arts and laws from Queens' College, Cambridge. He died in July 1980, at the age of 86.
Career
Best published a number of books between the 1930s and '60s. Many of his works were for children, and illustrated by Berry. One of these was perhaps his most lauded work, Garram the Hunter: A Boy of the Hill Tribes, published in 1930. It won a Newbery Honor in 1931. He also wrote at least one work of science fiction, 1940's The Twenty-Fifth Hour.
Outside of his writing career, he fought in World War I and spent time working for the British Civil Service in Nigeria as an administrative officer.{{Cite magazine|magazine=Life|title=SPEAKING OF AUTHORS... THESE ARE IN THE NEWS!|date=November 27, 1944}} His experiences in Africa were significant influences on some of his works. He was a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.
Bibliography
{{colbegin}}
- Garram the Hunter: A Boy of the Hill Tribes: 1930
- Flag of the Desert: 1936
- Tal of the Four Tribes: 1938
- The Twenty-Fifth Hour: 1940
- Gunsmith's Boy: 1942
- Young'Un: 1944
- Border Iron: 1945
- Whistle, Daughter, Whistle: 1947
- The Long Portage: A Story of Ticonderoga and Lord Howe: 1948
- Not Without Danger: A Story of the Colony of Jamaica in Revolutionary Days: 1951
- Watergate: A Story of the Irish on the Erie Canal: 1951
- Ranger's Ransom: 1953
- The Columbus Cannon: 1954
- Diane: 1954
- The Sea Warriors: 1959
- The Webfoot Warriors: The story of UDT, U.S. Navy's Underwater Demolition Team: 1962
- Underwater Warriors: Story of the American Frogmen: 1967
=''Desmond the Dog Detective'' series=
- Desmond's First Case: 1961
- Desmond the Dog Detective: The Case of the Lone Stranger: 1962
- Desmond and the Peppermint Ghost: 1965
- Desmond and Dog Friday: 1968
=With Erick Berry=
- Concertina Farm: 1943
- Men Who Changed the Map: 1968
- The Polynesian Triangle: 1968
{{colend}}
References
{{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Best, Herbert}}
Category:20th-century American novelists
Category:American children's writers
Category:American male novelists
Category:Newbery Honor winners
Category:20th-century American male writers
Category:Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society