21 Facts About Raoul Whitfield

Raoul Whitfield was an American writer of adventure, aviation, and hardboiled crime fiction.

Raoul F Whitfield was born in New York City, New York on November 22,1896.

Raoul Whitfield was the son of William H Whitfield and Mabelle P Whitfield, who were cousins.

Raoul Whitfield's parents were cousins of Louise Whitfield Carnegie, the wife of Andrew Carnegie.

From 1904 to 1912, Raoul Whitfield attended Trinity School, leaving after the eighth grade.

In 1916, Raoul Whitfield fell ill and returned to the US for treatment.

Raoul Whitfield received a commission as a second lieutenant and returned to the US in February 1919.

At the time, Raoul Whitfield was living in East McKeesport, part of Greater Pittsburgh.

Raoul Whitfield began submitting short stories to pulp magazines while working as a reporter at the Pittsburgh Post.

Raoul Whitfield was publishing stories in pulp magazines such as Sport Story, War Stories, Breezy Stories, Droll Stories, Triple-X Magazine, Air Trails, Boys' Life, Youth's Companion, Telling Tails, and Everybody's Magazine.

Raoul Whitfield's output was so prolific that Whitfield began to adopt the pen name Temple Field, which was used alongside his own byline in Fawcett's Battle Stories, as well as the pen name Ramon Decolta, used for his Jo Gar stories in the Black Mask.

In 1926, Raoul Whitfield broke into Black Mask with an aviation story, featuring pilot Bill Scott, published in their March issue.

From 1926 to his final Black Mask story in 1934, Raoul Whitfield would contribute ninety stories to the pulp magazine, the second most after Erle Stanley Gardner in less than half the span of time.

The pen name allowed Raoul Whitfield to publish several stories in a single issue of the Black Mask, so long as they were under distinct bylines.

From February 1930 through to July 1933, Raoul Whitfield would write twenty-four Jo Gar stories for the Black Mask as Ramon Decolta.

Raoul Whitfield was previously married to childhood friend William Henry Vanderbilt III, son of Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt, with whom she had one daughter, Emily Vanderbilt.

When obtaining a marriage license, Raoul Whitfield resided in Sutton Place in Manhattan, New York.

At the time of her death, the couple were estranged, and Raoul Whitfield was in Hollywood.

Raoul Whitfield's third wife, Lois Bell, was a local barmaid, almost twenty years his junior, who he had been seeing before his second wife's death.

Raoul Whitfield died from tuberculosis in Los Angeles, California on January 24,1945.

Raoul Whitfield is the only author to have several of his works included in the collection: the short story "Inside Job," originally published in February 1932, and the Jo Gar story "Death in Pasig," originally published in March 1930.