Borden Deal

Borden Deal ((1922-10-12)October 12, 1922 – (1985-01-22)January 22, 1985) was an American novelist and short story writer.[1]

Borden Deal
BornLoyse Youth Deal
(1922-10-12)October 12, 1922
Pontotoc, Mississippi, U.S.
DiedJanuary 22, 1985(1985-01-22) (aged 62)
Sarasota, Florida, U.S.
OccupationAuthor
NationalityAmerican
Alma materUniversity of Alabama
Notable worksThe Insolent Breed; Dunbar's Cove
SpousesLilian Slobotsky (1949–c.1950; divorced)
Babs Hodges (1952–1975; divorced)
Patricia Deal (1984–1985; his death)

Biography

Born Loysé Youth Deal in Pontotoc, Mississippi,[2] Deal attended Macedonia Consolidated High School, after which he joined the Civilian Conservation Corps and fought forest fires in the Pacific Northwest. Before he began writing, his checkered career included work on a showboat, hauling sawdust for a lumber mill, harvesting wheat, a position as auditor for the United States Department of Labor, a telephone solicitor, copywriter, and an anti-aircraft fire control instructor in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

In 1946, Deal enrolled in the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. While there he published his first short story, "Exodus". His creative writing professor was Hudson Strode. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree within three years, then enrolled in Mexico City College for graduate study.

It was not until 1956 that Deal decided to become a full-time writer. Among the pseudonyms he used were Loyse Deal, Lee Borden, Leigh Borden, and Michael Sunga.

A prolific writer, Deal penned twenty-one novels and more than one hundred short stories, many of which appeared in McCall's, Collier's, Saturday Review, and Good Housekeeping. His work has been translated into twenty different languages. A major theme in his canon is man's mystical attachment to the earth and his quest for land, inspired by his family's loss of their property during the Great Depression. The majority of his work is set in the small hamlets of the Deep South. His novel The Insolent Breed served as the basis for the Broadway musical A Joyful Noise. His novel Dunbar's Cove was the basis for the plot of the film Wild River, starring Lee Remick and Montgomery Clift.[3] From 1970 Deal also published, under the name "Anonymous", a series of erotic novels with pronoun titles such as Her and Him.[4][5]

Personal life

Deal was married three times. He married his first wife, Lilian Slobotsky (variously Slobotzky), while studying in Mexico in 1949.[6] According to one source, the couple had one daughter before the marriage ended in divorce.[7] In 1952 he married his second wife, Babs Hodges (1929–2004), who was also a published author.[8] They had one son and two daughters before divorcing in 1975.[7] He was survived by his third wife, Patricia, whom he married in 1984.[9]

Death

Deal died of a heart attack in Sarasota, Florida, on January 22, 1985, aged 62.[1]

The papers of Borden and Babs Hodges Deal are held at Boston University.[10][11]

Selected bibliography
  • Walk Through the Valley, 1956
  • Dunbar's Cove, 1957
  • Search for Surrender, 1957
  • Killer in the Mansion, 1957
  • Secret of Sylvia, 1958 (as Lee Borden)
  • The Insolent Breed, 1959
  • Dragon's Wine, 1960
  • The Devil's Whisper, 1961 (as Lee Borden)
  • The Spangled Road, 1962
  • Antaeus, 1962
  • The Loser (New South Saga #1), 1964
  • The Tobacco Men, 1965
  • A Long Way to Go, 1965
  • The Advocate (New South Saga #2), 1968
  • Interstate, 1970
  • A Neo-Socratic Dialogue on the Reluctant Empire, 1971
  • The Winner (New South Saga #3), 1973
  • The Other Room, 1974
  • Bluegrass, 1976
  • Legend of the Bluegrass, 1977 (as Leigh Borden)
  • Adventure, 1978
  • The Taste of Watermelon, 1979
  • There Were Also Strangers, 1985
  • The Platinum Man, 1986

References
  1. "Borden Deal, 62, a Novelist, Who Wrote 'Insolent Breed'". The New York Times. 25 January 1985. Archived from the original on 28 November 2017.
  2. Olson, Ted (2014). Inge, M. Thomas (ed.). The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture: Volume 9: Literature. UNC Press Books. pp. 239–240. ISBN 9781469616643.
  3. Brown, Alan (11 August 2015). "Borden Deal". Encyclopedia of Alabama.
  4. Warner, David T. (2001). Vanishing Florida: A Personal Guide to Sights Rarely Seen. River City Publishing. ISBN 0913515493.
  5. Gurney, Jack (30 January 1985). "Publisher will honor Deal pact". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
  6. "Federal District, Mexico, Civil Registration Marriages, 1861-1950". Ancestry.com. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  7. Hitchcock, Bert (1981). Lloyd, James B. (ed.). Lives of Mississippi Authors, 1817-1967. University Press of Mississippi. pp. 125–127. ISBN 9781617034183.
  8. "Babs Hodges Deal, a novelist, at 74". The Boston Globe. Associated Press. 22 February 2004. Archived from the original on 7 January 2018.
  9. "'Anonymous' author of erotic best sellers was novelist". The Tampa Tribune. Tampa, Florida. January 28, 1985. p. 9-B.
  10. "Deal, Borden (1922-1985)". Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center. Boston University. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  11. "Deal, Babs (1929-2004)". Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center. Boston University. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
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