Vereen Bell
Vereen M. Bell | |
|---|---|
| Born | 5 October 1911 Cairo, Georgia |
| Died | 26 October 1944 (aged 33) Leyte Gulf |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Service |  United States Navy |
| Unit | USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73) |
| Battles / wars | World War II |
| Other work | Novelist Notable works-Swamp Water |
Vereen M. Bell (5 October 1911 – 26 October 1944) was an American novelist and naval officer, who was killed in action during World War II.
Early life
[edit]Born in Cairo, Georgia to Jennie Vereen and (Judge) Reason Chesnutt Bell, Vereen Bell attended public schools before graduating from Davidson College in North Carolina in 1932.
Career
[edit]After writing several short stories and editing magazines, Bell wrote the novel Swamp Water, set in the Okefenokee Swamp. It was originally published in 1940 as a serial in the Saturday Evening Post. The novel was successfully adapted as a film (B&W) of the same title in 1941 and again as a color film, Lure of the Wilderness, in 1952.
Bell continued writing while serving in the Navy in World War II. In May 1944 he was observed pecking at a typewriter in a stateroom on his ship, the USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73). The working title of his last work was The Renegade Queen.[1]
Death
[edit]In World War II Bell was a lieutenant assigned as an intelligence officer to Composite Squadron VC-10 aboard the USS Gambier Bay, an escort carrier. In the Battle off Samar, on 25 October 1944, the Gambier Bay was part of a task force attacked by Vice Admiral Takeo Kurita's "Center Force". Bell rushed to the ready room to put on his flying gear but was ordered by the VC-10 commander, Lt. Cdr. Edward Huxtable, to remain on board. Bell survived the sinking of the Gambier Bay that morning but succumbed to exposure and delirium sometime during the evening of the 26th.[2]
Legacy
[edit]Named for Bell is the "Vereen Bell Highway" in Ware County, Georgia.[3]
Davidson College today awards the Vereen Bell Award for creative writing in his honor.
References
[edit]- ^ Hoyt, Edwin P. (1979). "The Men of the Gambier Bay". Globe Pequot Press, p. 74. ISBN 1-58574-643-6
- ^ Hoyt, Edwin P. (1979). "The Men of the Gambier Bay". Globe Pequot Press, p. 234. ISBN 1-58574-643-6
- ^ Krakow, Kenneth K. (1975). Georgia Place-Names: Their History and Origins (PDF). Macon, GA: Winship Press. p. 241. ISBN 0-915430-00-2.
Further reading
[edit]Vereen Bell, Brag Dog and Other Stories: The Best of Vereen Bell, Belgrade, Mont., Wilderness Adventures Press, 2000.
Alexander Sesonske, "Jean Renoir in Georgia: Swamp Water," Georgia Review 26 (Spring 1982), pp 24–66.
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