Frank Bonham
Frank Bonham was a notable American author born on February 25, 1914, in Los Angeles, California. He was deeply influenced by his family's literary background, with a mother and grandfather who were both involved in poetry. After struggling with asthma and dropping out of college, Bonham began his writing career while convalescing at a family cabin, where he successfully published his first short stories in pulp magazines. Over time, he transitioned from ghostwriting to freelance writing, focusing on Westerns initially before moving into television scripts and novels.
Bonham is especially recognized for his impactful young adult literature, including the acclaimed novel *Durango Street*, which addresses the challenges faced by disadvantaged youth in urban environments. His works often reflect realistic themes and aim to resonate with young readers, offering them relatable stories of struggle and hope. Bonham received multiple accolades throughout his career, including Notable Book citations and various awards for his contributions to literature. He passed away on December 17, 1989, having written an extensive body of work that significantly influenced the landscape of young adult fiction.
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Frank Bonham
Fiction Writer
- Born: February 25, 1914
- Birthplace: Los Angeles, California
- Died: December 17, 1989
Biography
Frank Bonham was born in Los Angeles, California, on February 25, 1914, the son of Alfred B. and Cecil Thompson Bonham. Both his grandfather, a gold camp judge, and his mother were poets. When he was ten, Bonham wrote his first two stories. His mother’s praise and the encouragement of his ninth-grade English teacher pointed him toward a writing career.
Bonham had been troubled with asthma since childhood, and after he began attending Glendale Junior College, his illness forced him to drop out. While convalescing at the family cabin at Big Bear Lake in the San Bernardino Mountains, Bonham began writing short stories and submitting them to pulp magazines. To his delight, his fourteenth story was accepted by Phantom Detective Magazine. However, he sold only seven of the more than one hundred stories he turned out during his first two years as a writer.
In 1938, Bonham married Gloria Bailey, his high school sweetheart. They had three sons, two of them handicapped.
In the late 1930’s, Bonham became one of several ghostwriters employed by Ed Earl Repp. Although he learned much about the trade, after two years Bonham tired of the low pay and the lack of recognition. Moving into the family cabin with his wife, he became a freelance writer, turning out Westerns like those he had written for Repp. He soon sold his first story. When Westerns no longer were popular, Bonham moved to Hollywood to write television scripts. He also published mysteries for adults and adventure stories for young adults.
However, Bonham is best known for works like the award-winning Durango Street, extensively-researched, realistic young adult novels that tell the stories of disadvantaged young people, many of whom live in West Coast ghettos like Dogtown, the setting of Mystery of the Fat Cat, The Nitty Gritty, Cool Cat, and Hey, Big Spender!
Bonham was runner-up for the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Allan Poe Award for Honor Bound in 1964; for The Mystery of the Red Tide, 1969; and for Mystery of the Fat Cat, 1969. Durango Street won him a Notable Book citation from the American Library Association and a Recognition of Merit Award from the George C. Stone Center for Children’s Books. Bonham received the Woodward Park School Annual Book Award for Viva Chicano. In 1980, he was awarded a prize for a notable body of work by the Southern California Council on Literature for Children and Young People.
Bonham spent his latter years on a horse ranch in Skull Valley, in the mountains of Arizona. He died on December 17, 1989. He had written some five hundred short stories, novellas, and novels, many of which appeared in magazines. However, his most important achievements were his role in introducing realistic subject matter into young adult fiction and, as a result, in stimulating reading among disadvantaged young people, who were drawn to Bonham’s stories because he told the truth about their desperate lives while offering them some hope of a better future.