William March was an American writer of psychological fiction and a highly decorated US Marine. The author of six novels and four short-story collections, March was praised by critics but never attained great popularity. March grew up in rural Alabama in a family so poor that he could not finish high school, and did not get a high school equivalency until he was 20. He later studied law, but was again unable to afford finishing his studies. In 1917, while working in a Manhattan law office, he volunteered for the US Marines and saw action in World War I, for which he was decorated with some of the highest honors?the French Croix de Guerre, the American Distinguished Service Cross and the Navy Cross. After the war he again worked in a law office before embarking on a financially successful business career. He also began writing, first short stories, then in 1933 a novel based on his war experiences, Company K. Literary success eluded him. His last novel, The Bad Seed, was published in 1954, the year March died. It became a bestseller, but he never saw his story adapted first for the stage and then for film. 

September 18th, 1893 in Mobile  /  Died:   May 15th, 1954