Bernard Palmer


Bernard Alvin Palmer, born in Central City, Nebraska, United States, was the originator and author of over 165 books for Christian youth, as well as several books for 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.

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 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 across the region, giving Palmer opportunities to travel, meet children of rodeo contestants, and develop a lasting interest in horses and western life. Visits to an uncle teaching on a South Dakota Indian reservation and annual family trips to his grandfather’s farm in Minnesota exposed him to Native American communities, the Badlands, northern forests, fishing, and boating. These settings and experiences would influence many of his later books.
Palmer attended Kearney State College in 1933 and Hastings College in 1940. He credited a college writing assignment, completed while enrolled in a remedial English course, with awakening his interest in writing as a profession.

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, president, and chair of the company’s board of directors. Alongside this work, he maintained a parallel career as a writer beginning in 1942, for which he is best known. He also served on the board of directors of the Tyndale Foundation beginning in 1963.
As an author, Palmer became known for his extensive body of Christian juvenile fiction, adventure stories, and instructional works. His early books included Parson John, Storm Winds, and Visibility Zero. Over subsequent decades he published widely with houses such as Zondervan, Moody, 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, the Powell Family, and the Ted and Terri series. Writing under the pseudonym John Runyan, he produced the Biff Norris and Tom Barnes series.
He also collaborated on works in nonfiction and Christian education, including Pattern for a Total Church, and several coauthored books with Marjorie Palmer such as How Churches Grow.
In addition to authoring books, Palmer was also the editor of Christian Life magazine for several years.
Beyond print, Palmer contributed to religious broadcasting. He 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.
A lifelong Protestant affiliated with the Evangelical Free Church of America, Palmer was active in civic and religious organizations. He served as past president of the Nebraska chapter of Gideons International and was also 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.