Charles Willeford

Writer

• Born: January 2, 1919
• Birthplace: Little Rock, Arkansas
• Died: March 27, 1988
• Place of death: Miami, Florida

Biography

Charles Willeford was born in 1919 in Little Rock, Arkansas, and raised in Los Angeles, California. His father, who was a traveling salesman for Whitman’s Chocolates, contracted tuberculosis and died when Willeford was two years old. After his father’s death, Willeford and his mother lived with his grandmother, Matte Sawyers. In 1925, Willeford’s mother contracted tuberculosis and died. Willeford’s grandmother then placed him in the McKinley Industrial School for Boys, a boarding house near Los Angeles. While living in the boarding house, Willeford became an avid reader and formulated an interest in becoming a writer.

At the age of ten, Willeford left the boarding house and returned to his grandmother’s home. Two years later, the Great Depression hit and his grandmother lost her job. Willeford, feeling like a financial burden, ran away and spent the next several years riding freight cars and living as a hobo. In 1935, Willeford grew tired of living on the streets and joined the army. He was eventually placed in the U.S. Army Air Corps and stationed in the Philippines.

In 1942, Willeford was reassigned to California, where he met and eventually married Lora Bell. Early in their marriage, Willeford was sent to serve in Japan, where he was a member of the armored division and earned the Bronze Star, the Silver Star, and the Purple Heart. The wartime separation proved to be detrimental to his marriage and he and his wife divorced. After World War II, Willeford reenlisted and was relocated to Hamilton Air Force Base in Novato, California. In 1951, he married his second wife, Mary Jo Hooker.

At this time, Willeford made his first attempt at writing for publication. In 1953, he found moderate success with his first published book, High Priest of California. Shortly after the book’s release, Willeford began to experience trouble in his marriage. He became depressed and was institutionalized for two months, receiving a treatment that included electroshock therapy.

Despite his personal problems, Willeford continued to write, and throughout the next several years he contributed to numerous periodicals and anthologies. As his writing career progressed, so did his military career. In 1954, he was assigned to Ernest Harmon Air Force Base in Newfoundland, Canada, where he remained for two years. While in Newfoundland, he served as base historian and wrote numerous speeches and articles for the base newspaper. His hard work and exemplary military service was commended with a promotion to the rank of master sergeant.

In 1956, after twenty years of military service, Willeford retired to civilian life and settled in West Palm Beach, Florida. Willeford pursued his education and earned an undergraduate degree from Palm Beach Junior College. He then attended the University of Miami, where he completed his master’s degree in 1964. After receiving his degree, Willeford began working as an instructor of humanities at the University of Miami. Eventually, he accepted a position as professor of English and philosophy at Miami-Dade Junior College.

While Willeford worked as an educator to earn a living, his real aspiration was to support himself as a writer. However, throughout the 1960’s and 1970’s, Willeford’s teaching career dominated his time and he was only able to publish a few moderately successful works. Coupled with his declining writing career, his twenty-five year marriage to Mary Jo Hooker ended in divorce in 1976. Willeford’s career finally experienced a revival in the mid-1980’s. In 1984, he published the first of his Hoke Moseley crime novels, Miami Blues. This book, a traditional police thriller, was met with success and inspired a dozen more best-selling novels. By 1987, Willeford began receiving advances of $250,000 for his novels. However, in 1988 his lifelong goal of writing success was cut short by his unexpected death due to coronary heart failure.