An American author of over forty novels for young adults, he is known for such titles as The Black Buccaneer, Down the Big River, and Longshanks. His 1939 work, Boy with a Pack, won the Newbery Honor.
He graduated from Haverford College in Pennsylvania in 1913 and subsequently worked as a prevention-of- cruelty officer with the Essex County Children's Aid Society.
He worked as an editor for the Philadelphia-based Curtis Publishing Company.
He settled in Moorestown Township, New Jersey with his wife Betty.
He and Mike Cerrone were both born in Rhode Island.
