Wilbur Daniel Steele Papers

Wilbur Daniel Steele (17 March 1886 in Greensboro, North Carolina - 26 May 1970 in Stamford, Connecticut) was a U.S. author and playwright. He was the son of Wilbur Fletcher Steele, who was a university of Denver Professor.

Wilbur Daniel received his degree from DU in 1907. In 1913 he married Margaret Thurston who was a talented painter. They had two sons. In 1931 Mrs. Steele died.

In 1932 he married Norma Mitchell, an actress and playwright with whom he collaborated on several plays.

He was several times winner of the coveted O. Henry Short Story Prize. He traveled widely in Africa and Europe, basing many of his stories from various places he lived or visited.

In a career spanning five decades, Wilbur Daniel Steele produced nearly two hundred short stories, seven short-story collections, ten novels, and several plays, including two one-acts written for the Provincetown Players.In 1913 he married Margaret Thurston who was a talented painter. They had two sons. In 1931 Mrs. Steele died.

In 1932 he married Norma Mitchell, an actress and playwright with whom he collaborated on several plays. They make their home at Lynne, Connecticut where they still reside.

He was several times winner of the coveted O. Henry Short Story Prize. He traveled widely in Africa and Europe, basing many of his stories from various places he lived or visited. . Although a few of his best stories infrequently appear in anthologies and prose readers, none of his works is currently in print. Yet for a quarter century Steele was popularly and critically acclaimed as one of America's great short-story writers. His impressionistic, romantic yarns, which combine exotic escape with reaffirmation of traditional American values, were favorites among educated, middle-class readers of popular magazines such as Harper's, Collier's, and Good Housekeeping.