Biography
Francis Irby Gwaltney (9 September 1921 – 27 February 1981) was an American novelist, educator and television writer. Born in Traskwood, Arkansas, he was raised in Charleston after his father’s death. He served with the US Army in the Philippines during the Second World War, where he met Norman Mailer, and later earned degrees in English from the University of Arkansas. He taught at Arkansas Tech University and Louisiana Tech University, helping to establish a creative writing programme at the former.
Gwaltney published eight novels, beginning with The Yeller-Headed Summer (1954). His most successful, The Day the Century Ended (1955), drew on his wartime experiences and was adapted into the film Between Heaven and Hell (1956). He also wrote teleplays for The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1964) and The Fugitive (1965); the former episode received an Emmy nomination.
