Borden Deal

Borden Deal (Birth date|1922|10|12 – Death date|1985|1|22), was an American novelist and short story writer.

Born in Pontotoc, Mississippi, Deal attended Macedonia Consolidated High School, after which he joined the Civilian Conservation Corps and fought forest fires in the Pacific Northwest. Before he began writing, his checkered career included work on a showboat, hauling sawdust for a lumber mill, harvesting wheat, a position as auditor for the United States Department of Labor, a telephone solicitor, copywriter, and an anti-aircraft fire control instructor in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

In 1946, Deal enrolled in The University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. While there he published his first short story, "Exodus". His creative writing professor was Hudson Strode. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree within three years, then enrolled in Mexico City College for graduate study.

It wasn't until 1956 that Deal decided to become a full-time writer. Among the pseudonyms he used were Loyse Deal, Lee Borden, and Leigh Borden.

A prolific writer, Deal penned twenty-one novels and more than one hundred short stories, many of which appeared in "McCall's", "Collier's", "Saturday Review", and "Good Housekeeping". His work has been translated into twenty different languages. A major theme in his canon is man's mystical attachment to the earth and his quest for land, inspired by his family's loss of their property during the Great Depression, and the majority of his work is set in the small hamlets of the Deep South. His novel "The Insolent Breed" served as the basis for the Broadway musical "A Joyful Noise".

Deal was married twice and had four children. He died of a heart attack in Sarasota, Florida.

elected bibliography

*"Walk through the Valley", 1956
*"Dunbar's Cove", 1957
*"Search for Surrender", 1957
*"Killer in the House", 1957
*"Secret of Sylvia", 1958
*"Devil's Whispers", 1961
*"The Spangled Road", 1962
*"Antaeus", 1962
*"The Loser", 1964
*"The Tobacco Men", 1965
*"A Long Way to Go", 1965
*"The Advocate", 1968
*"Interstate", 1970
*"The Winner", 1973
*"The Other Room", 1974
*"Bluegrass", 1976
*"Legend of the Bluegrass", 1977
*"Adventure", 1978
*"There Were Also Strangers", 1985

External links

* [http://www.olemiss.edu/mwp/dir/deal_borden/index.html The Mississippi Writers Page] Biographical Note (Department of English, University of Mississippi)
* [http://www.shs.starkville.k12.ms.us/mswm/MSWritersAndMusicians/writers/BordenDeal/BordenDeal.html The Mississippi Writers and Musicians Project] Article, including photo and portrait of the author, as well as extensive bibliographic details (Starkville High School, Starkville, Mississippi)
* [http://www.philsp.com/homeville/FMI/s503.htm#A17560 The FictionMags Index; Stories, Listed by Author] Bibliographical listings; Periodicals
* [http://bigbajoor.tripod.com/index.htm The Big Bajor Official Website] Official website for a short film based on Borden Deal's short story, The Big Baoor, about a young gypsy woman trying to swindle a fortune from a country spinster.
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