Al Hine

Al Hine (1915–1974) was a reporter, novelist, and movie producer who wrote numerous books including Lord Love a Duck, which was made into a movie starring Tuesday Weld and Roddy McDowall, and pop novels based on the Bewitched TV series and the Beatles' movie Help!.

In 1950, Hine married children's literature author Sesyle Joslin, with whom he often collaborated on writing projects.^{[citation needed]}

Writing career

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During World War II, Hine wrote for Yank, the Army Weekly magazine as a staff correspondent from July 1943 to December 1945. He developed a wry, smooth writing style filled with sexual innuendo that later served him well in crafting popular novels. For example, in the July 7, 1944, issue of Yank Hine wrote about a lucky fighting cock in "Yanks at Home Abroad":^[1]

Persian Field Command – Army pets range from the auk to the zebra, but a trucking station in northern Iran proudly claims a simple barnyard fowl as its mascot. The rooster, a medium-sized Mediterranean Red, doesn’t even have a name as yet, but if you believe its owner, T-5 Wallace Grube of New York, N.Y., it is potentially the best fighting cock in the history of the sport.

The Red, a well-fed fowl with an iridescent feathered neck that sparkles like the rainbow, has one of the finest harems in the Moslem Middle East. He struts about the yard daily, the idol of six curvesome hens and the envy of his GI masters.

Hine and his wife, Sesyle Joslin, coauthored the children's book Is There a Mouse in the House? (Macmillan, 1965). Under the name "G. B. Kirtland" they wrote One Day in Ancient Rome (Harcourt, 1961), One Day in Elizabethan England (Harcourt, 1962), and One Day in Aztec Mexico (Harcourt, 1963).

Hine's novel Lord Love a Duck (Atheneum: 1961) told the story of Alan Musgrave, a confident high school student skilled at karate and hypnosis who calls himself 'Mollymauk' after a rare bird. When Musgrave meets attractive Barbara Ann Greene, he uses his talents to help her get what she wants in life. The novel was made into an award-winning comedy film in 1966 starring Tuesday Weld and Roddy McDowell.

His novel Bewitched (1965: Dell Publishing) adapted several first season teleplays of the popular TV series by the same name. According to the publisher, "They were young, married, and doing what comes supernaturally!" Hine wrote an original novel based on I Dream of Jeannie (1966: Pocket Books) under the pseudonym "Dennis Brewster". According to the back cover's blurb, "Viewers who have roared at the astronautical antics of Captain Nelson and his sprightly imp, Jeannie, can now read this madcap, laugh-filled adventure of that wacky twosome from blast-off to landing." This is a highly sought-after and rare novel, as its publisher Pocket Books had not properly optioned rights to the series (there is neither network nor studio indicia on the book or its copyright page, nor is the show's creator, Sidney Sheldon, credited), which led to legal action and the book being quickly pulled from the shelves.

Hine was a frequent contributor to magazines such as The Saturday Review, Collier's Weekly, Holiday, and the Saturday Evening Post. He also dabbled in film and was listed as an executive producer of the movie Lord of the Flies.^[2]

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Writing career

Partial bibliography

References

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