Novelist David Westheimer passed away Tuesday, November 8th, 2005. He was 88 years old. Born in Houston, Texas, he received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Rice University in 1937. He began his successful writing career at the Houston Post in 1939 as an assistant editor in the amusement department, then became radio, magazine and television editor before leaving the paper in 1960. He would return to the paper as a columnist in the 1980s.
His first novel, Summer on the Water, was published by MacMillan in 1948. During the span of his career he wrote many books. He is perhaps most well known for best sellers Von Ryan's Express and My Sweet Charlie. My Sweet Charlie became a Broadway play and later, a TV movie that won Patty Duke an Emmy. Twentieth Century Fox made a film ofVon Ryan's Express, starring Frank Sinatra. David also wrote numerous teleplays and adapted the screenplay Days of Wine and Roses into a popular novel.
David served as Captain in the Air Force between 1941-45, spending three years as a POW in Italian and German prison camps and earning both the
Distinguished Flying Cross and Air Medal. He remained in the Air Force Reserve, serving as a Lieutenant Colonel until he retired.
He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Dody (also a former Houstonian and graduate of Rice); his two sons, Fred and wife Susan; Eric and wife Karen; five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Dody has been the subject and heroine of many of David's essays.
At 88, David Westheimer
continued to write, and not just for SeniorWomen.com. The
Great Wounded Bird, his recollections of World War II,
was the winner of the Texas Review 1999 poetry prize. David's last novel was Delay
En Route.
