Author Profile:  William W.  Bell

William W.  Bell became a playwright because of an unusual circumstance.  In 1964, while living in a small town in Michigan, he had a novel published by Fawcett Gold Medal Books as an original paperback.  The novel received a lot of local publicity (and was even banned by one of the two drugstores in town).

Bell's son, Wyatt, was a 7th grade student in junior high school.  The class wanted to put on a play and Wyatt and some of his classmates persuaded Bell to write one (after all the publicity Bell had been labeled a writer...  and if he could write a novel he could certainly write a play).  The result:  Oggaline and the Time Machine.  The one-act play was a hit, so Bell sent it to Pioneer Drama Service where it is currently available for production.

Bell has had seven one-act plays produced.  One of them, Outside of Darkest Africa, took first place prize in the 1991 Deep South Writers Conference Competition.

William W.  Bell passed away during 2002.