Richard Armstrong
Richard Armstrong was a British author born on June 18, 1903, in Northumberland, England. His early life was marked by poverty and the upheaval of World War I, which led him to leave school at the age of thirteen to work in steel mills. He later joined the Merchant Navy, where his experiences inspired his writing career. Over three decades, Armstrong authored numerous seafaring adventure novels for both children and adults, including notable works like *Sea Change*, *Cold Hazard*, and *The Mutineers*. His stories often featured young protagonists from diverse backgrounds facing challenges that required them to mature and make tough decisions. Armstrong's writing was characterized by its realistic portrayals and use of colloquial dialects, enhancing the authenticity of his narratives. As literary trends shifted, he adapted his characters to reflect more complex emotional struggles. Later in life, he dedicated himself to helping delinquent boys, aiming to positively influence their lives and society. Armstrong's contributions to literature earned him accolades such as the Carnegie Medal in 1948 and recognition in the New York Herald Tribune Festival of Books. He passed away in 1986.
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Richard Armstrong
Writer
- Born: June 18, 1903
- Birthplace: Northumberland, England
- Died: 1986
Biography
Richard Armstrong was born on June 18, 1903, in Northumberland, England. As a boy, he had ambitions of becoming a teacher, but his family’s poverty and World War I forced him to drop out of school when he was thirteen and work in the steel mills. Armstrong preformed manual jobs in the mills, working as an errand boy, greaser and laborer, and crane driver. In 1916, he signed up with the Merchant Navy and sailed around the world. When he left the Merchant Navy, he held a variety of jobs in London before devoting his life to his writing.
Armstrong’s literary career spanned three decades, and in that time he wrote many seafaring adventure tales for both young readers and adults. A self-taught writer, Armstrong drew upon his experiences in the Merchant Navy to create tales that enabled readers to experience life at sea and to learn the responsibilities of maintaining a ship and remaining loyal to one’s crew. His novels, such as Sea Change, Cold Hazard, Horseshoe Reef, and Ship Afire!, generally featured two boys from different backgrounds united in a common adventure or a group of children forced into hardship or facing treacherous situations. His stories stressed discipline, maturity, and decision making and its consequences. Many of Armstrong’s novels also featured colloquial dialects, which made the stories more realistic.
One of Armstrong’s most powerful novels, The Mutineers, follows a group of renegade teenagers as they set sail for Australia to escape punishment at home. While they are sailing, they decide to mutiny and commandeer the ship. Their mutiny succeeds, and they are suddenly forced to live and work together as a group and to take on unwanted responsibilities to ensure their survival. The story describes how the boys are trapped within a circumstance they brought upon themselves. The boys mature throughout the novel as they are forced into roles of leadership and their courage and morals are tested. The Mutineers is a perfect example of the life lessons and character building found throughout Armstrong’s writings.
As literary tastes changed, Armstrong’s writing evolved and he created youthful characters that were less naïve and more self-destructive than the characters in his earlier novels. Later in his career, Armstrong devoted himself to working with delinquent boys in an effort to improve both society and the lives of these children.
Armstrong received the Carnegie Medal in 1948 for Sea Change and First Prize in the New York Herald Tribune Festival of Books in 1956 for Cold Hazard. He died in 1986.