Bernard Alvin Palmer (November 21, 1914 – May 7, 1998), born in Central City, Nebraska, was an American author who wrote more than 165 books, primarily Christian fiction for children and young adults. He created series such as the Danny Orlis series, the Felicia Cartright series, and the Pioneer Girls series, which he co-authored with his wife Marjorie Palmer.
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Early life and education
Bernard Palmer was born on November 21, 1914 in Central City, Nebraska, to Ben H. Palmer, who worked in the monument business, and Stella (Jarvis) Palmer. When he was four years old, his family moved to Holdrege, Nebraska. Palmer grew up on the prairies of Nebraska in an environment he later described as ideal training for a writer of children’s stories. His father organized rodeos throughout the region, and Palmer accompanied him on some of these trips. Palmer visited an uncle who taught on a South Dakota reservation and made annual family trips to his grandfather’s farm in Minnesota. Settings resembling the northern forests, prairies, and western landscapes he knew from childhood later appeared in his fiction.
Palmer attended Kearney State College in 1933 and Hastings College in 1940. Palmer later said that a writing assignment in a remedial English course prompted him to consider writing professionally.
Career
Palmer spent much of his early and mid-career working in the monument industry. He was a stonecutter and shop foreman at Palmer Brothers Monument Company in Holdrege, Nebraska, from 1957 to 1967. He later served as vice-president (1962–1974), president (from 1974), and chair of the company’s board of directors (from 1974). Palmer began publishing books in 1942 while continuing to work in the family monument business. He also served on the board of directors of the Tyndale Foundation beginning in 1963.
Palmer wrote Christian juvenile fiction, adventure stories, and instructional books. His early books included Parson John (1942), Storm Winds (1942), and Visibility Zero (1944). Over subsequent decades his books were published by Zondervan, Moody Press, Back to the Bible, Bethany House, and Tyndale House.
Palmer authored dozens of standalone titles and created or contributed to numerous book series, some coauthored with his wife, Marjorie Palmer, including the Danny Orlis series, the Brigade Boys, the Felicia Cartright series, Golden Boy, Halliway Boys, Little Feather, Lori Adams, Mel Webb, Mickey Turner, the Orlis Twins, Pat Collins/Jim Dunlap, Pioneer Girls (all with Marjorie Palmer), the Powell Family, and the Ted and Terri series. Writing under the pseudonym John Runyan, he produced the Biff Norris and Tom Barnes series.
Palmer also wrote nonfiction and books on Christian education, including Pattern for a Total Church (1975), and several coauthored books with Marjorie Palmer such as How Churches Grow (1976).
In addition to authoring books, Palmer was also the editor of Christian Life magazine for several years.
Palmer wrote the weekly Saturday Youth Program radio series for Back to the Bible Broadcast from 1950 to 1976 and helped develop screenplays for Christian films, including adaptations of My Son, My Son and Silent Thunder. He also served on the board of publications of the Evangelical Free Church of America during multiple terms between 1965 and 1974 and again beginning in 1980.
Personal life and death
Palmer married June Berger on June 20, 1934; she died on September 28, 1939. The couple had one son, James Barrett "Barry" Palmer. On December 12, 1940, he married writer Marjorie Matthews. They had three children together.
Palmer was affiliated with the Evangelical Free Church of America. He served as president of the Nebraska chapter of Gideons International and was a member of Kiwanis.
His novel My Son, My Son, which was adapted into a feature film by Ken Anderson in 1973, tells the semi-autobiographical story of Palmer and his son, Barry.
Palmer died on May 7, 1998.