Cothburn O'Neal (1907–2001), novelist
Cothburn O'Neal (1907–2001) was an American novelist.
Biography
Cothburn Madison O’Neal was born on July 29, 1907 in Wolfe City, Texas.
He attended North Texas Agricultural College (later known as Arlington State College) from 1923 to 1925, before enrolling at Trinity University in San Antonio, from which graduated in 1927. O’Neal later earned both a master’s degree (1934) and a doctorate (1940) at the University of Texas at Austin.
In 1938 he joined the Faculty of Arlington State College in 1938 as a professor of English. With the exception of service in the U.S. Navy as an aviator in the Pacific theater during World War II, he remained with the school until his retirement in 1972. During his tenure, O’Neal served as acting chair of the English Department, headed the fine arts area between 1956 and 1960, and from 1960 to 1972 served as assistant to the president.
He was the author of eight historical novel of various subjects, and for many years was the literary critic for the Dallas Times-Herald.
O’Neal died on July 3, 2001.