Powell, Richard

Richard Powell was an author, journalist and advertising man born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he lived most of his life. He attended Princeton University, graduating in 1930. By that time he had already decided to become a professional author, and he found a job as crime reporter and theatre critic at the Philadelphia Evening Public Ledger. In 1940 he joined an advertising agency where he made a rapid career with the exception of a few years during the war when he served on General MacArthur’s staff. He was appointed vice president of information services in 1952, but in 1958 he decided to become a full-time author as a result of the success of his novel The Philadelphian (1956). He and his wife spent the summer months in Philadelphia and lived in Fort Myers, Florida, during the winter. He died in Florida in 1999.