1. John Anthony Bellairs was an American author best known for his fantasy novel The Face in the Frost and many Gothic mystery novels for children featuring the characters Lewis Barnavelt, Rose Rita Pottinger, Johnny Dixon, and Anthony Monday.
24 Facts About John Bellairs
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John Bellairs was born in Marshall, Michigan, the son of Virginia and Frank Edward John Bellairs, who ran a cigar store and bowling alley in Marshall.
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John Bellairs was raised a strict Roman Catholic and initially planned to become a priest.
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John Bellairs's hometown inspired the fictional town of New Zebedee, Michigan, where he set his trilogy about Lewis Barnavelt and Rose Rita Pottinger.
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John Bellairs went on to receive a Master of Arts degree in English from the University of Chicago in 1960.
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John Bellairs taught English at the College of Saint Teresa, Shimer College, Emmanuel College, and Merrimack College before turning full-time to writing in 1971.
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Alongside Christopher Tolkien, John Bellairs was a guest of honor at the 18th Annual Mythopoeic Conference at Marquette University in 1987, hosted by the Mythopoeic Society.
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John Bellairs died suddenly of cardiovascular disease at his home in Haverhill, Massachusetts, on March 8,1991, at the age of 53.
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John Bellairs was survived by his ex-wife, Priscilla Bellairs, whom he had married on June 24,1968, and their son Frank J Bellairs.
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Frank John Bellairs died in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on August 19,1999, at the age of 29.
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John Bellairs was inducted into the Haverhill Citizens Hall of Fame in 2000.
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John Bellairs' first published work, St Fidgeta and Other Parodies, is a collection of short stories satirizing the rites and rituals of Second Vatican Council-era Catholicism.
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The title story of St Fidgeta grew out of humorous stories John Bellairs made up and shared with friends while living in Chicago.
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John Bellairs undertook his third book, The Face in the Frost, while living in Britain and after reading JRR.
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Carter stated that John Bellairs was planning a sequel to The Face in the Frost at the time.
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Beyond these supernatural elements, John Bellairs's novels evoked "a child's concern with comfort and security in his real world," addressing childhood fears of abandonment, loneliness, and bullying, as well as coming of age.
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John Bellairs's stories are described as spooky but ultimately reassuring as the characters conquer evil through friendship.
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On his death in 1991, John Bellairs left behind two unfinished manuscripts and two one-page synopses for future adventures.
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The John Bellairs estate commissioned Brad Strickland to complete the two unfinished manuscripts and to write novels based on the two one-page outlines.
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Strickland announced in spring 2005 that new adventures of the John Bellairs' characters were under way, following contract negotiations with the John Bellairs' estate and a two-year absence since his last-published novel.
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All told, thirteen sequels to John Bellairs' books have been written by Strickland.
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Critics have argued that John Bellairs wrestled with notions of masculinity, femininity, and queerness in his works.
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One of the most substantial academic treatments of John Bellairs comes from Dawn Heinecken, professor of women's and gender studies at the University of Louisville.
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John Bellairs' books have been translated into Czech, French, German, Japanese, Polish, and Spanish, among other languages.