Happy birthday, Frank G. Slaughter

It is the birthday of prolific Florida novelist Frank G. Slaughter (1908), who wrote 56 books that sold more than 60 million copies. He wrote while he was a surgeon at Jacksonville’s Riverside Hospital but eventually left to devote full time to writing. Slaughter’s books were never considered literary achievements but they were widely read and immensely popular. Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings met him once while she was a hospital patient. She told him he should to stick to surgery. His first book, That None Should Die (1941), gave a young surgeon’s view of socialized medicine. It was a bestseller in Denmark and other Scandinavian countries. Many of Slaughter’s books were set in Florida. Among them was Fort Everglades (1951), which was set in a fort on the Miami River during the Second Seminole War. It served as the basis for the 1951 Gary Cooper film Distant Drums. The film swiped scenes from the book but the studio didn’t buy the movie rights until a suit was filed after the film was made.

Frank Slaughter wrote medical novels

Frank Slaughter

It is the birthday of Florida physician and writer Frank G. Slaughter (1908), whose immensely popular medical adventures and historical tales were bestsellers for decades beginning in the 1950s. For nine years, he was a surgeon at Riverside Hospital in Jacksonville, Florida, in the 1930s and early 1940s but he eventually left the profession to devote full time to writing. He lived in Florida for 50 years and set many of his books in the region. His novels always combined some medical aspect and romance. They weren't considered literary masterpieces but they were widely read.

His historical novel Fort Everglades (1951) was set during the Second Seminole War at a fort on the Miami River. U.S. Army troops were planning to invade the Everglades. Warner Brothers was so intrigued with the story that the studio began making a feature film that liberally borrowed scenes from Slaughter's book. The film was the 1951 feature Distant Drums starring Gary Cooper and directed by Raoul Walsh. Only later, after it was challenged, did the studio buy the movie rights to the novel. Oddly, the film was shot in and around Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine, a Spanish fort of an entirely different era.

Fernando Lamas starred in the 1953 film version of Slaughter's novel Sangaree (1952), which was set during the American Revolution. It tells the story of an indentured servant who rises in stature and power in the state of Georgia. Gene Hackman and Dyan Cannon starred in a 1971 movie based on Slaughter's Doctors' Wives (1967), in which high powered doctors neglect their wives in pursuit of their careers.

Slaughter wrote 56 books and they sold about 60 million copies. They were translated into all major languages. In addition to the then-modern medical dramas and historical fiction, Slaughter wrote novels based on biblical stories set in the Holy Land and also in Europe during the Renaissance. Curiously, Slaughter rarely traveled. He visited Europe once when he was in his 60s but never went to the Middle East. His first novel, That None Should Die (1941) offered a young doctor's view of socialized medicine. His last novel, No Greater Love (1984) was also a medical story. Slaughter died in 2001 at the age of 93.

Frank Slaughter wrote medical tales

Frank Slaughter

It is the birthday of novelist and physician Frank Slaughter (1908), the prolific and bestselling author of modern medical adventures, historical tales and biblical stories. Slaughter lived in Jacksonville for 50 years and served as a surgeon at Riverside Hospital there for nine years. His first book, That None Should Die (1941), sold moderately in the United States but was a bestseller in Denmark and other Scandinavian countries. Many of his books were set in Florida, and one, Fort Everglades (1951) was filmed as the movie Distant Drums. Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings met him while she was a hospital patient. She apparently didn't think much of his writing. She told him he should stick to surgery. He wrote 56 books that sold more than 60 million copies.