Thelma Strabel
Encyclopedia
Thelma L. Strabel was an American novelist who specialized in tales of the American South and sea adventures. She is best known for her novel Reap the Wild Wind
, which was serialized in the Saturday Evening Post and became a successful film.
Strabel was born in Crown Point, Indiana
on December 19, 1900, the first child of grocer John George Strabel and his wife Nannsie. (For unknown reasons, Strabel later claimed Pennsylvania as her birthplace.) She was the great-granddaughter of Abraham Lincoln
's private secretary, General John Hall. She grew up in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois
, but spent much of her youth also in southwestern Pennsylvania, her mother's native district. She published her first short story in the children's section of a Pittsburgh newspaper. At 16, she worked as a census enumerator for the local census board. She graduated from the University of Illinois and later became a fashion reporter in Paris and an advertising copywriter for the Abraham & Straus department store. While convalescing from an illness in Switzerland, she began to write fiction as a vocation. Among her early works are Smart Woman (1933), Streamline Marriage (1937), For Richer -- Or For Poorer? (1938), and You Can't Escape Forever (1938). She wrote several novels set in exotic locales ranging from Caribbean islands to the jungles of Peru. Her best known story, Reap the Wild Wind (1940), is a romantic saga of the wreckers in and around Key West
, Florida
. Producer-director Cecil B. DeMille
bought the novel and, with numerous alterations, produced a popular movie version starring Paulette Goddard
and John Wayne
in 1942. Strabel was so enamored of Key West and its unique history that she built a house there following the sale of the story to The Saturday Evening Post
in 1940. The house, located at 400 South Street, was described by Strabel, not without argument, as the southernmost house in the United States. It remained a popular site for visitors to the island until its demolition and replacement by a larger house.
Strabel married David P. Godwin, who was the chief of fire control for the U.S. Forest Service, an agency which served as the subject of her short story The Forest Ranger (also filmed in 1942, as The Forest Rangers
). Godwin was killed in a plane crash June 13, 1947, and Strabel never remarried.
Strabel's later novels and stories include Storm to the South (1944), a romance of Bolivarian
Peru
, You Were There (a Woman's Home Companion serialized novel, filmed as Undercurrent [1946]), and Caribee (1957), a romantic novel revolving around the Mount Pelée
volcanic disaster of 1902.
Strabel died of cancer on May 28, 1959, in Washington DC. She was buried in Charleston, South Carolina
.
Reap the Wild Wind
Reap the Wild Wind is a serialized story written by Thelma Strabel in 1940 for The Saturday Evening Post, which was the basis for the 1942 film starring Ray Milland, John Wayne, Paulette Goddard, Robert Preston, and Susan Hayward, and directed by Cecil B. DeMille, his second picture to be filmed in...
, which was serialized in the Saturday Evening Post and became a successful film.
Strabel was born in Crown Point, Indiana
Crown Point, Indiana
As of the census of 2010, there were 27,317 people and 10,976 households in the city. The racial makeup of the city was 88.20% White, 6.30% African American, 0.20% Native American, 1.80% Asian, 0.00% Pacific Islander, 1.90% from other races, and 1.60% from two or more races...
on December 19, 1900, the first child of grocer John George Strabel and his wife Nannsie. (For unknown reasons, Strabel later claimed Pennsylvania as her birthplace.) She was the great-granddaughter of Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
's private secretary, General John Hall. She grew up in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, but spent much of her youth also in southwestern Pennsylvania, her mother's native district. She published her first short story in the children's section of a Pittsburgh newspaper. At 16, she worked as a census enumerator for the local census board. She graduated from the University of Illinois and later became a fashion reporter in Paris and an advertising copywriter for the Abraham & Straus department store. While convalescing from an illness in Switzerland, she began to write fiction as a vocation. Among her early works are Smart Woman (1933), Streamline Marriage (1937), For Richer -- Or For Poorer? (1938), and You Can't Escape Forever (1938). She wrote several novels set in exotic locales ranging from Caribbean islands to the jungles of Peru. Her best known story, Reap the Wild Wind (1940), is a romantic saga of the wreckers in and around Key West
Key West
Key West is an island in the Straits of Florida on the North American continent at the southernmost tip of the Florida Keys. Key West is home to the southernmost point in the Continental United States; the island is about from Cuba....
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. Producer-director Cecil B. DeMille
Cecil B. DeMille
Cecil Blount DeMille was an American film director and Academy Award-winning film producer in both silent and sound films. He was renowned for the flamboyance and showmanship of his movies...
bought the novel and, with numerous alterations, produced a popular movie version starring Paulette Goddard
Paulette Goddard
Paulette Goddard was an American film and theatre actress. A former child fashion model and in several Broadway productions as Ziegfeld Girl, she was a major star of the Paramount Studio in the 1940s. She was married to several notable men, including Charlie Chaplin, Burgess Meredith, and Erich...
and John Wayne
John Wayne
Marion Mitchell Morrison , better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height...
in 1942. Strabel was so enamored of Key West and its unique history that she built a house there following the sale of the story to The Saturday Evening Post
The Saturday Evening Post
The Saturday Evening Post is a bimonthly American magazine. It was published weekly under this title from 1897 until 1969, and quarterly and then bimonthly from 1971.-History:...
in 1940. The house, located at 400 South Street, was described by Strabel, not without argument, as the southernmost house in the United States. It remained a popular site for visitors to the island until its demolition and replacement by a larger house.
Strabel married David P. Godwin, who was the chief of fire control for the U.S. Forest Service, an agency which served as the subject of her short story The Forest Ranger (also filmed in 1942, as The Forest Rangers
The Forest Rangers (film)
The Forest Rangers ia a 1942 adventure film made by Paramount Pictures, directed by George Marshall, and written by Harold Shumate, based on story by Thelma Strabel.-Cast:*Fred MacMurray as Don Stuart*Paulette Goddard as Celia Huston Stuart...
). Godwin was killed in a plane crash June 13, 1947, and Strabel never remarried.
Strabel's later novels and stories include Storm to the South (1944), a romance of Bolivarian
Simón Bolívar
Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios Ponte y Yeiter, commonly known as Simón Bolívar was a Venezuelan military and political leader...
Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
, You Were There (a Woman's Home Companion serialized novel, filmed as Undercurrent [1946]), and Caribee (1957), a romantic novel revolving around the Mount Pelée
Mount Pelée
Mount Pelée is an active volcano at the northern end of the island and French overseas department of Martinique in the Lesser Antilles island arc of the Caribbean. Its volcanic cone is composed of layers of volcanic ash and hardened lava....
volcanic disaster of 1902.
Strabel died of cancer on May 28, 1959, in Washington DC. She was buried in Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...
.