William H. Armstrong

William H. Armstrong (1911-1999) was an American author, most noted for his Newbery Medal-winning novel, "Sounder".

Armstrong grew up on a farm in Lexington, Virginia. He graduated cum laude from Hampden-Sydney College in 1936, he continued his higher education with graduate work at the University of Virginia. In 1945, he became a history master at Kent School in Kent, Connecticut, where he remained teaching general studies and ancient history to generations of third formers (ninth graders) for fifty-two years. Armstrong was loved, admired, and feared by his students. A truly formidable character and head of "study hall" he suffered no fools lightly. More than once he was known to send a text book flying across the classroom with unerring accuracy to awaken one inattentive student or another. By the mid 1970s, enriched by earnings from "Sounder", among other works, Armstrong was thoroughly ensconced in Kent School. He raised sheep for passover on a beautiful hillside piece of property provided by the school and reportedly only charged Kent one dollar per year for his academic services.

In 1956, at the request of his school headmaster, he published his first book, a study guide called "Study Is Hard Work". Armstrong followed this title with numerous other self-help books, and in 1963 he was rewarded the National School Bell Award of the National Association of School Administrators for distinguished service in the interpretation of education.

In 1969, Armstrong published his masterpiece, a short novel entitled "Sounder". Praised by critics, "Sounder" won the John Newbery Medal and the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award in 1970, and was adapted into a major motion picture in 1972. He continued to be prolific in his writing output, mainly publishing books with historical or biblical main characters, such as "Hadassah: Esther the Orphan Queen" (1972) and "The Education of Abraham Lincoln" (1974). Armstrong was rewarded an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from Hampden-Sydney College in 1986. He died on April 11, 1999 at his home in Kent, Connecticut at the age of 88 ["William Armstrong 1911-1999." Publishers Weekly; 05/03/99, Vol. 246 Issue 18, p27, 1/7p] .

References