Nathaniel Goddard Benchley (November 13, 1915 – December 14, 1981) was an American writer from Massachusetts.

Early life

Born in

Newton, Massachusetts Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is approximately west of downtown Boston. Newton resembles a patchwork of thirteen villages, without a city center. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, the population of ...

to a literary family, he was the son of

Robert Benchley Robert Charles Benchley (September 15, 1889 – November 21, 1945) was an American humorist best known for his work as a newspaper columnist and film actor. From his beginnings at '' The Harvard Lampoon'' while attending Harvard University, thr ...

(1889–1945), a noted American writer, humorist, critic, and actor and one founder of the

Algonquin Round Table The Algonquin Round Table was a group of New York City writers, critics, actors, and wits. Gathering initially as part of a practical joke, members of "The Vicious Circle", as they dubbed themselves, met for lunch each day at the Algonquin Hotel ...

in New York City, and Gertrude Darling. He graduated from

Phillips Exeter Academy (not for oneself) la, Finis Origine Pendet (The End Depends Upon the Beginning) gr, Χάριτι Θεοῦ (By the Grace of God) , location = 20 Main Street , city = Exeter, New Hampshire , zipcode ...

and

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher ...

. Benchley enlisted in the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

prior to the

attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii ...

. He served as a

public relations officer The public relations officer (PRO) or chief communications officer (CCO) or corporate communications officer is a C-suite level officer responsible for communications, public relations, and/or public affairs in an organization. Typically, the CCO ...

, and on

destroyers In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

and patrol craft in North Atlantic convoy duty (

Battle of the Atlantic The Battle of the Atlantic, the longest continuous military campaign in World War II, ran from 1939 to the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, covering a major part of the naval history of World War II. At its core was the Allies of World War II, ...

), and was transferred to the Pacific Theater in 1945.

Writing career

After the war Benchley worked for the weekly magazine ''Newsweek'' as an assistant drama editor. Harcourt, Brace published Benchley's first book in 1950, ''Side Street'', a novel featuring "hilarious activities of two New York City families living in the East Sixties"—that is, living on the East Side of Manhattan near 60th Street. He wrote a biography of his father Robert that McGraw-Hill published in 1955. In 1960 Harper & Row published his second novel, ''Sail a Crooked Ship'', and Random House his first children's book, retold from ''

Sindbad the Sailor Sinbad the Sailor (; ar, سندباد البحري, Sindibādu al-Bahriyy; fa, سُنباد بحری, Sonbād-e Bahri or Sindbad) is a fictional mariner and the hero of a story-cycle of Persian origin. He is described as hailing from Baghda ...

'' with illustrations by Tom O'Sullivan. Benchley was the respected author of much

children's fiction Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...

that provides readers an experience of certain animal species, historical settings, and so on (''Oscar Otter'', ''Sam the Minuteman'', etc). He presented diverse locales and topics: for instance, ''Bright Candles'' recounts the experiences of a 16-year-old Danish boy during the

German occupation of Denmark At the outset of World War II in September 1939, Denmark declared itself neutral. For most of the war, the country was a protectorate and then an occupied territory of Germany. The decision to occupy Denmark was taken in Berlin on 17 December ...

in World War II; ''Small Wolf'' features a Native American boy who meets white men on the island of Manhattan and learns that their ideas about land are different from those of his own people. ''Sail a Crooked Ship'' was adapted as a black-and-white comedy feature film of the same name by Columbia Pictures in 1961. His 1961 novel ''The Off-Islanders'' was made into comedy feature ''

The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming ''The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming'' is a 1966 American comedy film directed and produced by Norman Jewison for the United Artists. It is based on the 1961 Nathaniel Benchley novel ''The Off-Islanders'', and was adapted for th ...

'' by director/producer

Norman Jewison Norman Frederick Jewison (born July 21, 1926) is a retired Canadian film and television director, producer, and founder of the Canadian Film Centre. He has directed numerous feature films and has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best ...

in 1965. ''The Visitors'' (1965) was adapted as a horror/comedy feature ''

The Spirit Is Willing ''The Spirit Is Willing'' is a 1967 American horror/comedy film directed by William Castle, written by Ben Starr, and starring Sid Caesar, Vera Miles, Barry Gordon, John McGiver, Cass Daley, Ricky Cordell and Mary Wickes. Based on ''The Visito ...

'' by Paramount Pictures in 1967. Benchley was a friend of the actor

Humphrey Bogart Humphrey DeForest Bogart (; December 25, 1899 – January 14, 1957), nicknamed Bogie, was an American film and stage actor. His performances in Classical Hollywood cinema films made him an American cultural icon. In 1999, the American Film In ...

and wrote a Bogart biography published in 1975. In October of that year, ABC showed the made-for-TV drama '' Sweet Hostage'', based on his 1968 novel ''Welcome to Xanadu''.

Personal life

Benchley and Margaret Bradford were married not long after his college years. They settled in New York City and had two sons, one before and one after World War II. Elder son

Peter Benchley Peter Bradford Benchley (May 8, 1940 – February 11, 2006) was an American author, screenwriter, and ocean activist. He is known for his bestselling novel '' Jaws'' and co-wrote its film adaptation with Carl Gottlieb. Several more of his works ...

(1940–2006) was a writer, known best for the novel ''Jaws'' and the screenplay for its

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Sp ...

film, the 1975 best-seller ''

Jaws Jaws or Jaw may refer to: Anatomy * Jaw, an opposable articulated structure at the entrance of the mouth ** Mandible, the lower jaw Arts, entertainment, and media * Jaws (James Bond), a character in ''The Spy Who Loved Me'' and ''Moonraker'' * ...

''. Younger son

Nat Benchley Nathaniel Robert "Nat" Benchley is an American writer and actor who has performed on stage, television, and film. Life and career Benchley is the son of Marjorie (Bradford) and Nathaniel Goddard Benchley, an author. He is the grandson of humori ...

is a writer and actor who has portrayed his grandfather, Robert Benchley, in a one-man, semi-biographical stage show, ''Benchley Despite Himself''. The show was a compilation of Robert Benchley's best monologues, short films, radio rantings, and pithy pieces as recalled, edited, and acted by grandson Nat, combined with family reminiscences and friends' perspectives. Nathaniel Benchley died 1981 in Boston and was interred in the family plot at Prospect Hill Cemetery in

Nantucket Nantucket () is an island about south from Cape Cod. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck and Muskeget, it constitutes the Town and County of Nantucket, a combined county/town government that is part of the U.S. state of Massachuse ...

Works

Essays

* "Introduction", ''Twentieth Century Parody, American and British'', ed. Burling Lowrey (1960),

Novels

* ''Side Street'' (Harcourt, Brace, 1950)"Side street"
One catalog record of the 1st ed.

WorldCat WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative. It is operated by OCLC, Inc. Many of the O ...

. Retrieved 2018-08-02. * ''A Firm Word or Two'' (1958) * ''Sail a Crooked Ship'' (Harper & Row, 1960) *''The Off-Islanders'' (1961) *''Catch a Falling Spy'' (1964) *''A Winter's Tale'' (1964) *''The Visitors'' (1964) *''The Monument: A Satiric Novel'' (1966) *''Welcome to Xanadu'' (1968) *''The Wake of the Icarus'' (1969) *''Lassiter's Folly'' (1971) *''A Necessary End: A Novel of World War II'' (1976) *''Sweet Anarchy'' (1979) *''Portrait of a Scoundrel'' (1979) *''All Over Again'' (1981) *''Speakeasy'' (1982)

Non-fiction

* ''The Benchley Roundup: A Selection by Nathaniel Benchley of His Favorites'' (1954), by Robert Benchley, * ''Robert Benchley, a Biography'' (McGraw-Hill, 1955) * ''Humphrey Bogart'' (1975)

Short fiction

*"Short Cut", ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'', January 28, 1950

Children's books

I Can Read

Benchley was the writer of at least these 10 books published by

Harper & Row Harper is an American publishing house, the flagship imprint of global publisher HarperCollins based in New York City. History J. & J. Harper (1817–1833) James Harper and his brother John, printers by training, started their book publishin ...

in its I Can Read series (about 60 pages long), several in the History and Mystery subseries. These include eight of his ten "most widely held works" as catalogued by

libraries."Benchley, Nathaniel 1915–1981"
WorldCat Identities. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
''The Benchley Roundup'', his selection from Robert Benchley, and ''Humphrey Bogart'' are his other "most widely held works". WorldCat also reports the next ten. * '' Red Fox and His Canoe'' (1964), illustrated by

Arnold Lobel Arnold Stark Lobel (May 22, 1933 – December 4, 1987) was an American author of children's books, including the '' Frog and Toad'' series and '' Mouse Soup''. He wrote and illustrated these picture books as well as ''Fables'', a 1981 Caldecott M ...

* '' Oscar Otter'' (1966), illus. Lobel * ''The Strange Disappearance of Arthur Cluck'' (1967), illus. Lobel * ''A Ghost Named Fred'' (1968), illus. Ben Shecter * ''Sam, the Minuteman'' (1969), illus. Lobel * ''The Several Tricks of Edgar Dolphin'' (1970), illus. Mamoru Funai * ''Small Wolf'' (1972), illus. Joan Sandin * ''Snorri and the Strangers'' (1976), illus. Don Bolognese * ''George, the Drummer Boy'' (1977), illus. Bolognese * ''Running Owl the Hunter'' (1979), illus. Funai

Other

* ''Sindbad the Sailor'' (Random House, 1960), illustrated by Tom O'Sullivan * ''The Flying Lesson of Gerald Pelican'' (1970), illus. Mamoru Funai * ''Feldman Fieldmouse: A Fable'' (1971), illus. Hilary Knight * ''Gone and Back'' (1971) – Oklahoma "pioneer adventure of Obediah Taylor, a boy reaching manhood" * ''The Magic Sled'' (1972), illus. Mel Furukawa; UK title, ''The Magic Sledge'' * ''Only Earth and Sky Last Forever'' (1972) – "Although recognizing the end of the Indians' freedom is near, a young Cheyenne still chooses to fight with Crazy Horse", * ''The Deep Dives of Stanley Whale'' (1973), illus. Mischa Richter * ''Bright Candles: A Novel of the Danish Resistance'' (1974) – features "a sixteen-year-old Danish boy during the German occupation", * ''Beyond the Mists: A Novel'' (1975) – features "an adventurous youth who travels to Vinland with Leif Eriksson", * ''Kilroy and the Gull'' (1977), illus. John Schoenherr – a Marineland killer whale "escapes to life on the open sea with his friend Morris the sea gull", * ''Demo and the Dolphin'' (1981), illus. Stephen Gammell * ''Snip'' (1981), illus. Irene Trivas * ''Walter, the Homing Pigeon'' (1981), illus. Whitney Darrow

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Benchley, Nathaniel 1915 births 1981 deaths 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American male writers American children's writers American male novelists Writers from Newton, Massachusetts The New Yorker people United States Navy personnel of World War II American magazine editors American male biographers 20th-century American biographers Harvard College alumni Novelists from Massachusetts Phillips Exeter Academy alumni