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

Early life

Born in

Newton, Massachusetts Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is located roughly west of Downtown Boston, and comprises a patchwork of thirteen villages. The city borders Boston to the northeast and southeast (via the neighborhoods 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, newspaper columnist and actor. From his beginnings at ''The Harvard Lampoon'' while attending Harvard University, through his many years writing essays ...

(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 Phillips Exeter Academy (often called Exeter or PEA) is an Independent school, independent, co-educational, college-preparatory school in Exeter, New Hampshire. Established in 1781, it is America's sixth-oldest boarding school and educates an es ...

and

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

. Benchley enlisted in the U.S. Navy 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 Empire of Japan on the United States Pacific Fleet at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, its naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu, Territory of ...

. He served as a public relations officer, and on destroyers and patrol craft for North Atlantic convoy duty during the

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.

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'' 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. In addition to conventional literary genres, modern children's literature is classified by the intended age of the reade ...

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 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 comedy feature movie 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'' by director/producer

Norman Jewison Norman Frederick Jewison (July 21, 1926 – January 20, 2024) was a Canadian filmmaker. He was known for directing films which addressed topical Social issue, social and political issues, often making controversial or complicated subjects acces ...

in 1965. ''The Visitors'' (1965) was adapted as a horror/comedy feature '' The Spirit Is Willing'' by Paramount Pictures in 1967. In October 1975, ABC showed the made-for-television drama '' Sweet Hostage'', based on Benchley's 1968 novel ''Welcome To Xanadu''. Benchley was a friend of the actor

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

and wrote a biography of Bogart published in 1975.

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. His eldest son

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

(1940–2006) was a writer, best-known for the novel ''Jaws'' and its 1975 screen adaptation, directed by

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg ( ; born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time and is ...

. Younger son Nat Benchley 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 movies, radio rantings, and pithy pieces as recalled, edited, and acted by grandson Nat, combined with anecdotes, 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 in the state of Massachusetts in the United States, about south of the Cape Cod peninsula. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck Island, Tuckernuck and Muskeget Island, Muskeget, it constitutes the Town and Co ...

Bibliography

Novels

* ''Side Street'' (Harcourt, Brace, 1950) * ''A Firm Word or Two'' (1958) * * *''Catch a Falling Spy'' (1964) *''A Winter's Tale'' (1964) *''The Visitors'' (1965) *''The Monument : A Satiric Novel'' (1966) *''Welcome to Xanadu'' (1968) *''The Wake of the Icarus'' (1969) *''Lassiter's Folly'' (1971) *''The Hunters Moon '' (1972) *''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, * * ''Humphrey Bogart'' (1975)

Essays and reporting

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

Short fiction

Plays

* The frogs of spring, a comedy in three acts (1954) https://lccn.loc.gov/54036696

Children's books

* *''Welcome to Xanadu'' (1968) * ''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 ;I Can Read series * ''Red Fox and His Canoe'' (1964), illustrated by Arnold Lobel * ''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

References

External links

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