Guy Gilpatric

John Guy Gilpatric (January 21, 1896 – July 7, 1950) was an American pilot, flight instructor, journalist, short-story writer and novelist, best known for his Mr. Glencannon stories.

Guy Gilpatric was born on January 21, 1896 in New York. He was the son of a Scottish immigrant. When he was seven years old he saw an airplane for the first time and decided he wanted to become a pilot. He succeeded at a very young age and in 1912 set the United States altitude record. He was a demonstration, stunt and test pilot and performed in various movies. For one movie it was planned he had to crash an airplane. Gilpatric did so and survived the crash. However, the recordings were not good so he had to do it again.

During World War I he was a fighter pilot for the US Army. He stayed in Europe and worked as a war reporter. After the war, Gilpatric lived in Antibes and worked as a publicity agent. It was there where he got the inspiration for his Mr. Glencannon stories, which were published in the Saturday Evening Post. In 1940, he and his wife Louise returned to the USA. In 1943, his book "Action in the North Atlantic" was made in to a film. Louise was hospitalized in 1950.

Gilpatric is best known for his short stories about Scottish ship engineer Colin Glencannon, published in the Saturday Evening Post and bundled in numerous books. A 39 episode TV series starring Thomas Mitchell as Colin Glencannon was produced in 1959.

Other works include "Action in the North Atlantic", which was made into a movie starring Humphrey Bogart, and which was nominated for an Academy Award for best story in 1943. In Flying Stories Gilpatric describes the adventures of his early years as a pilot. His collection of short stories entitled Brownstone Front takes place in New York City during the end of the 19th century and the start of the 20th. His novel French Summer is a humorous romance which revolves around vacationers at the French Riviera in the late 1920s.

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