Howard Breslin was an American novelist and radio script writer. He mainly wrote novels of historical fiction and is most notable for The Tamarack Tree and Bad Day at Black Rock. He also published under the nom de plume

Pen name

A pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a pseudonym adopted by an author. A pen name may be used to make the author's name more distinctive, to disguise his or her gender, to distance an author from some or all of his or her works, to protect the author from retribution for his or her...

 Michael Niall

Biography

Born Howard Mary Breslin in New York City to Kathryn Veronica (née Connelly) and Thomas Niall Breslin, both parents of Irish decent. His father and mother met each other when they both worked at the famed Waldorf-Astoria Hotel

Waldorf-Astoria Hotel

The Waldorf-Astoria is a luxury hotel in New York. It has been housed in two historic landmark buildings in New York City. The first, designed by architect Henry J. Hardenbergh, was on the Fifth Avenue site of the Empire State Building. The present building at 301 Park Avenue in Manhattan is a...

. He was raised in Manhattan with his older brother Thomas A. Breslin and younger sister Irene Mary Breslin. Aunts and uncles often lived with the family during his childhood. Breslin lived most of his life in New York City. At the age of ten he started reading the series Rover Boys

Rover Boys

The Rover Boys Series for Young Americans was a popular children's book series of the early 20th century credited to "Arthur M. Winfield", a pseudonym for Edward Stratemeyer. A total of 30 titles were published between 1899 and 1926 and the books remained in print for years forward.The original...

 by Edward Stratemeyer and it inspired him to write.

He graduated from Regis High School

Regis High School (New York City)

Regis High School is a private Jesuit university-preparatory school for academically gifted Roman Catholic young men located on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Annual class enrollment is limited to approximately 135 male students from the New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut tri-state area...

 in 1932, and then earned a Bachelor of Arts

Bachelor of Arts

A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...

 degree summa cum laude

Latin honors

Latin honors are Latin phrases used to indicate the level of academic distinction with which an academic degree was earned. This system is primarily used in the United States, Canada, and in many countries of continental Europe, though some institutions also use the English translation of these...

 in 1936 from Manhattan College

Manhattan College

Manhattan College is a Roman Catholic liberal arts college in the Lasallian tradition in New York City, United States. Despite the college's name, it is no longer located in Manhattan but in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, roughly 10 miles north of Midtown. Manhattan College offers...

, in Riverdale, Bronx, New York. While at Manhattan College he was an editor for The Quadrangle, the college newspaper and editor of the yearbook.

After college Breslin applied at every newspaper in New York City, but could not get a job. He went to work as a writer for radio programs. His most notable programs included Off the Air (starring Shirley Booth

Shirley Booth

Shirley Booth was an American actress.Primarily a theatre actress, Booth's Broadway career began in 1925. Her most significant success was as Lola Delaney, in the drama Come Back, Little Sheba, for which she received a Tony Award in 1950...

) and The Honest Captain, both of which he co-wrote with Knowles Entrikin. The two would alternate each week on a unique script for the show. He also wrote Mayor of the Town, starring Lionel Barrymore

Lionel Barrymore

Lionel Barrymore was an American actor of stage, screen and radio. He won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in A Free Soul...

. Along with David Howard, Breslin wrote the show for Parker Fennelly

Parker Fennelly

Parker Fennelly was an American actor who appeared in ten films, numerous television episodes and hundreds of radio programs.-Allen's Alley:...

 with the character Titus Moody on Allen's Alley.

He left a lucrative job writing radio scripts, making USD

United States dollar

The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....

$750-a-week by 1946, to become a novelist because he we un-happy. He had published The Piper's Son but with limited success. To make ends meet he published short stories.

The Tamarack Tree (1947) would set Breslin on his path as a novelist, earning him a Literary Guild and receiving critical acclaim.

In 1946 he wrote the short story "Bad Time at Honda", and it appeared in The American Magazine in January 1947, with full-color illustrations by Robert Fawcett

Robert Fawcett

Robert Fawcett trained as a fine artist but achieved fame as an illustrator of books and magazines.Born in England, he grew up in Canada and later in New York. His father, an amateur artist, encouraged Robert's interest in art. While in Canada, he was apprenticed to an engraver...

. That story became the film Bad Day at Black Rock

Bad Day at Black Rock

Bad Day at Black Rock is a 1955 thriller film directed by John Sturges that combines elements of Westerns and film noir. It tells the story of a mysterious stranger who arrives at a tiny isolated town in a desert of the southwest United States in search of a man...

, the script adapted by Don McGuire and Millard Kaufman

Millard Kaufman

Millard Kaufman was an American screenwriter and novelist. His works include the Academy Award-nominated Bad Day at Black Rock . He was also one of the creators of Mr. Magoo.-Life:...

, directed by John Sturges

John Sturges

John Eliot Sturges was an American film director. His movies include Bad Day at Black Rock , Gunfight at the O.K. Corral , The Magnificent Seven , The Great Escape and Ice Station Zebra .-Career:He started his career in Hollywood as an editor in 1932...

, and starring Spencer Tracy

Spencer Tracy

Spencer Bonaventure Tracy was an American theatrical and film actor, who appeared in 75 films from 1930 to 1967. Tracy was one of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, ranking among the top ten box office draws for almost every year from 1938 to 1951...

.

He would use his Irish family and childhood for his novel Let Go of Yesterday (1950) which is set in the Irish South Bronx.

Another one of his short stories was the basis for the film Platinum High School (1960; MGM), directed by Charles Haas, with the screenplay by Robert Smith, and starring Mickey Rooney

Mickey Rooney

Mickey Rooney is an American film actor and entertainer whose film, television, and stage appearances span nearly his entire lifetime. He has won multiple awards, including an Honorary Academy Award, a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award...

.

At the end of his life he was living at 331 East 71st Street in Manhattan. Breslin died after a short illness at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center

St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center

St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center, an academic affiliate of Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, is a 1,076-bed, full-service community and tertiary care hospital serving New York City’s Midtown West, Upper West Side and parts of Harlem....

, New York City.

Books

• 1945: The Piper's Son — (Springfield, OH: Crowell Publishing Company)
• 1947: The Tamarack Tree — (New York: Whittlesey House)
• 1950: Let Go of Yesterday — (New York: Whittlesey House)
• 1953: The Bright Battalions — (New York: McGraw-Hill)
• 1954: The Silver Oar — (New York: Crowell)
• 1954: Bad Day at Black Rock — (New York: Fawcett Publications)

1978 (reprint): Bad Day at Black Rock — (as "Michael Niall"; Mattituck, NY : Aeonian Press)

• 1955: Shad Run — (New York: Crowell)
• 1956: Autumn Comes Early — (New York: Crowell)
• 1956: Thunder on the River — (Collins)
• 1958: The Gallowglass — (New York: Crowell)
• 1960: A Hundred Hills — (New York: Crowell)
• 1962: Run Like a Thief — (as "Michael Niall"; New York: M. S. Mill co. and Morrow)
• 1963: Concert Grand — (New York: Dodd, Mead)

External links