Theodore Taylor
Theodore Taylor was a multifaceted American author and filmmaker known primarily for his novel "The Cay," published in 1969. Born to Edward Riley and Elnora Alma Langhans, Taylor began his writing career at a young age, working as a sports writer by age thirteen. His educational journey included attendance at Fork Union Military Academy and later the United States Merchant Marine Academy, which paved the way for his service in the Merchant Marines and the United States Navy during World War II and the Korean War.
After his military service, Taylor held various roles in public relations and journalism before transitioning to Hollywood, where he worked with major film studios as a publicist, writer, and director of documentary films. "The Cay," a coming-of-age story set against the backdrop of a torpedoed ship, resonated with readers worldwide, selling over four million copies and earning numerous awards. Taylor continued to write throughout his life, producing various works, including the well-received biography "The Flight of Jesse Leroy Brown." He settled in Laguna Beach, California, with his family, where he remained engaged with his readers until his death in October 2006.
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Theodore Taylor
Author
- Born: June 23, 1921
- Birthplace: Statesville, North Carolina
- Died: October 26, 2006
- Place of death: Laguna Beach, California
Biography
By the time Theordore Taylor was thirteen, he was a paid sports writer for the Evening Star in Portsmouth, Virginia. He was student at Fork Union Military Academy during the 1939-1940 school year, after which he went to Washington, D.C., to work for eleven dollars a week as a copy boy for Washington’s Daily News. Taylor, the son of a molder named Edward Riley and his wife, Elnora Alma Langhans, went to the United States Merchant Marine Academy in 1942 and served in the Merchant Marines from 1942 until 1944. He saw active duty in the United States Navy from 1944 until 1946. He was recalled to active service during the Korean War and served in the Navy from 1950 until 1955. This experience gave him some of the raw material for his first novel, The Cay, but before he wrote it he had a diverse career, first as a public relations officer for New York University, then as a newspaper reporter for the Orlando Sentinel Star.
In 1955, following his discharge from the Navy as a lieutenant, he joined Paramount Pictures in Hollywood as a publicist. He later worked for other film companies, including Twentieth Century Fox, Columbia Pictures, and United Artists, in various capacities, including writer, producer, and director of documentary films. He spent a great deal of time outside the United States in connection with his work on documentaries.
His first novel, The Cay, published in 1969, was an overwhelming success. It is a Robinson Crusoe-like story about a youth who struggles to survive after his ship, the Hato, is torpedoed by Nazi submarines. He lands in a remote place, where he confronts many of his prejudices and insecurities. Translated into many languages, the book sold an astonishing four million copies worldwide and won eleven major literary awards. Although Taylor received more than 200,000 letters requesting that he write a prequel and a sequel, it was not until 1993 that a sequel, Timothy of the Cay, appeared. Meanwhile, Taylor had produced a flood of other books, including a biography, The Flight of Jesse Leroy Brown, about the African American who became the first person of color admitted to the naval Training School to become a fighter pilot.
Taylor’s range of interests was broad, and his research methods, many of them developed when he was doing documentaries for Hollywood studios, were impeccable. Taylor settled in Laguna Beach, California, with his wife, the former Flora Gray Schoenleber, a retired elementary school teacher with whom he had three children. He died there in October, 2006, from complications of a heart attack. He was still receiving e-mails from young readers affected by his classic book the week of his death.