Allan W. Eckert
Encyclopedia
Allan W. Eckert was an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 historian, historical novelist, and naturalist
Natural history
Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...

.

Biography

Eckert was born in Buffalo, New York
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...

 and raised in the Chicago, Illinois area, but had been a long-time resident of Bellefontaine, Ohio
Bellefontaine, Ohio
Bellefontaine is a city in and the county seat of Logan County, Ohio, United States. The population was 13,069 at the 2000 census. It is the center of the Bellefontaine Micropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the United States Census Bureau in 2003...

, near where he attended university. As a young man, he hitch-hiked around the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, living off the land and learning about wildlife. He began writing about nature and American history at the age of thirteen, eventually becoming an author of numerous distinguished books for children and adults. Seven of his books have been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...

 in literature. One of his novels tells how the Great Auk
Great Auk
The Great Auk, Pinguinus impennis, formerly of the genus Alca, was a large, flightless alcid that became extinct in the mid-19th century. It was the only modern species in the genus Pinguinus, a group of birds that formerly included one other species of flightless giant auk from the Atlantic Ocean...

 went extinct.

In addition to his highly popular novels he has also written several screenplays and more than 225 "Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom
Wild Kingdom
Wild Kingdom, sometimes known as Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom, is an American television show that features wildlife and nature. It was originally produced from 1963 until 1988, and was revived in 2002...

" television shows for which he received an Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...

.

In a 1999 poll conducted by the Ohioana Library Association, jointly with Toni Morrison
Toni Morrison
Toni Morrison is a Nobel Prize and Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist, editor, and professor. Her novels are known for their epic themes, vivid dialogue, and richly detailed characters. Among her best known novels are The Bluest Eye, Song of Solomon and Beloved...

, Allan W. Eckert was voted "Favorite Ohio Writer of All Time."

Eckert died in his sleep on July 7, 2011 in Corona, Calif at the age of 80.

Dramatizations and adaptations

Eckert is the playwright of the outdoor drama entitled Tecumseh! which, in 1997, celebrated its 25th year of production at the multi-million-dollar Sugarloaf Mountain Amphitheater near Chillicothe, Ohio. His book on Blue Jacket was dramatized for outdoor performances and opened in 1982 outside of Xenia, Ohio. The production was eventually closed due to financial difficulties, but not before it was reported to have put over nine million dollars yearly into the local economy of southwest Ohio.

Eckert's Pulitzer Prize-nominated book A Time of Terror: The Great Dayton Flood was adapted for the stage as 1913: The Great Dayton Flood by W. Stuart McDowell and Timothy Nevits in 1996 and performed at the Wright State University
Wright State University
Wright State University is a comprehensive public university with strong doctoral, research, and undergraduate programs, rated among the 260 Best National Universities listed in the annual "America's Best Colleges" rankings by U.S. News and World Report. Wright State is located in Fairborn, Ohio,...

 Department of Theatre, Dance and Motion Pictures, featuring recorded narration by Martin Sheen
Martin Sheen
Ramón Gerardo Antonio Estévez , better known by his stage name Martin Sheen, is an American film actor best known for his performances in the films Badlands and Apocalypse Now , and in the television series The West Wing from 1999 to 2006.He is considered one of the best actors never to be...

, Ossie Davis
Ossie Davis
Ossie Davis was an American film actor, director, poet, playwright, writer, and social activist.-Early years:...

 and Ruby Dee
Ruby Dee
Ruby Dee is an American actress, poet, playwright, screenwriter, journalist, and activist, perhaps best known for co-starring in the film A Raisin in the Sun and the film American Gangster for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.-Early years:Dee was born Ruby...

. The production won a number of awards from the American College Theatre Festival XXIX at the Riffe Center, Columbus, Ohio, and subsequently opened the 1997 festival in the Kennedy Center, returning to Dayton that fall, where it played in the Victoria Theatre
Victoria Theatre (Dayton, Ohio)
The Victoria Theatre is a historic 1,154-seat performing arts venue located in downtown Dayton, Ohio, USA.-History:The Victoria, one of the oldest continually operated theaters on the continent, was opened to the public as the Turner Opera House on New Year's Day, 1866, at a cost of $225,000...

in Dayton.

Criticism

Eckert has sparked controversy with his "hidden dialogue" technique in his historical narratives, using a novelist's technique to enhance dramatic events. After many years of research on a topic, he has felt free to recreate historical conversations and thoughts in what some critics have considered to be "an entertaining blend of fact and fiction" purporting to be a straight biography. His colorful evocations of history have been praised as more accessible than drier, more strictly factual, accounts. However, what he has termed “narrative biography” has been criticized as “an apparent euphemism for poetic license”. A Sorrow in Our Heart: The Life of Tecumseh in particular has been faulted as “A biography that succeeds better as fiction” which “in its interpretative zeal … strays from … the historical record to the point of being suspect”.

External links

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