Robb White
Robb White was a notable American author born on June 20, 1909, in the Philippines to Episcopal missionaries. He spent his formative years in Tarboro, North Carolina, and pursued higher education at the U.S. Naval Academy, where he began nurturing his passion for writing. Despite an initial career as a construction engineer at DuPont, he dedicated himself to writing, which led to his first published work in the magazine American Boy and subsequently to his debut novel, *The Nub*, in 1935. White's literary career largely focused on adventure novels centered around maritime themes, influenced by his experiences at sea and during World War II, where he served as an ensign in the Pacific Theater.
Throughout his life, White faced challenges in financial stability, sometimes resorting to writing in varied genres, including screenplays and technical articles. His personal life included a marriage to Rosalie Mason and a later marriage to Joan Gibbs after a divorce in 1964. One of his most recognized works, *Deathwatch*, published in 1972, marked a departure from his typical nautical narratives, exploring themes of suspense and survival. Robb White passed away on November 24, 1993, leaving behind a legacy characterized by courageous characters and compelling storytelling, with *Deathwatch* remaining his most enduring work.
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Subject Terms
Robb White
Author
- Born: June 20, 1909
- Birthplace: Philippines
- Died: November 24, 1993
- Place of death: Santa Barbara, California
Biography
Robb White was born on June 20, 1909, in the Philippines, the son of Robb White and Placidia Bridgers White, Episcopal missionaries working with the Igorot people. The family moved to Tarboro, North Carolina, before White started elementary school. After graduating from the Episcopal High School in Alexandria, he attended the U.S. Naval Academy, earning a bachelor’s degree in 1931. From the time he was thirteen, White had known that he would be a writer. The academy did not have courses in creative writing, so he practiced his craft on his own, and later reported that he had written hundreds of stories and a dozen novels before he was twenty years old. However, none of these early efforts was published.
After college, White worked as a clerk and a draftsman before landing at the DuPont corporation as a construction engineer. Whatever the job, he maintained a strict discipline with his writing, working several hours each night after a full day’s work and making no effort to find friends or entertainment. When he sold his first story to a magazine, American Boy, he quit his job with DuPont and began a period of sea travel, working as a deck hand and writing in spare moments. In 1935, he published his first novel, The Nub, followed by four more books, all adventure novels about sailors and the sea, in the next four years.
In 1937, he married Rosalie Mason, and the couple bought a small island in the British Virgin Islands and made their permanent home there. They had three children: Robb, an author who writes about boats, Barbara, and June. White wrote about his family’s idyllic life on the island in Two on the Isle: A Memory of Marina Cay (1985). When World War II broke out, White served as an ensign in the Pacific Theater until 1945, and he served again as a captain from 1947 to 1948. He was separated from his family during these seven years and never rejoined them fully.
After his military service, he earned his living exclusively from writing, traveling around the world and mailing manuscripts to his publisher. Many of his novels, including Up Periscope (1956) and Silent Ship, Silent Sea (1967), draw on his experiences in World War II. Although he published dozens of novels for adults and young people, he was occasionally unable to support himself with his “serious” fiction. He supplemented his income writing pornography, screenplays for horror movies, technical articles for the navy, and television shows such as Perry Mason, work he detested. In 1964, he and Rosalie divorced, and White married Joan Gibbs a short while later.
Deathwatch (1972), White’s most well-known novel, takes place in the desert rather than at sea and involves suspense, a murder, and survival against the odds. White died of pneumonia on November 24, 1993. Many of White’s stories feature a heroic character who displays courage and faith. Deathwatch, the only one of White’s books still in print, won the Edgar Allan Poe Award for the best juvenile mystery novel in 1973.