Bobby Harwell(1931-2017)

B. R. (Bobby) Harwell was born in Nashville, Arkansas on August 22, 1931. His first real taste of adventure came when, at the age of 18, he and his brother Bill signed on a Swedish freighter heading for India. The ship was forced to stop in Bermuda when a smoldering fire was discovered in the hold where he and Bill participated in an attempt to save the life of their trapped First Mate. The two of them later signed off the ship in India without proper papers. Considered illegals and getting no help from the US Embassy, their problem was solved by a caring Brit who was an agent for the Swedish ship they had recently left. B.R.'s adventures continued in Korea where he served in a combat medical group similar to the unit portrayed in the hit movie and TV series MASH. After the military he used the GI Bill to graduate Cum Laude from the University of Arkansas. Having a free spirit, he became a peregrinating observer of life, tasting it through an eclectic potpourri that included such diverse jobs as commercial fishing, hanging draperies, driving cabs, working in a skid row blood bank and teaching elementary school in a Miami ghetto. In the early eighties B. R. did his first print modeling job. From there he moved up to TV commercials and small roles in TV and film. At the age of 78 he wrote "Flawed", his first novel, which describes the frivolity of Hollywood commingled with incest, murder and betrayal.