Biography

Stewart Edward White, the son of Thomas Stewart White, successful lumberman, and Mary E. Daniell, was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In 1895 he received a B.A. in Philosophy and in 1903 an M.A. from Columbia University. He married Elizabeth (Betty) Grant of Rhode Island in 1904, and they were married until her death in 1939.

Early on White worked as a lumberjack and was a lifelong avid outdoorsman. He was a close friend to Theodore Roosevelt, who called White "the kind of young American who is making our new literature." He was included with the likes of Jack London and Rex Beach.

After enlisting in World War I, and rose to the rank of major with the 144th Artillery. One of the first white men to explore German East Africa (now Tanzania), he mapped the area in 1913, for which he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. He was also a member of the National Institute of Arts and Letters and of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

White wrote many books, mostly westerns, his first book being "The Westerners" (1901). Other early books included "The Claim Jumpers" (1901), "The Blazed Trail" (1902), "The Forest" (1904), "The Mountains" (1904), "The Pass, Camp and Trail", "The Silent Places" (1907), "Arizona Nights" (1907) and "The Riverman" (1908). "The Rediscovered Country" (1915) was about his experiences on Africa's Serengeti plains.

White wrote many fiction and non-fiction works based on the history of California, including "Gold" (1913), "The Gray Dawn" (1915) and "The Rose Dawn" (1920). "The Cabin" (1922) followed, along with "Daniel Boone, Wilderness Scout" (1926). His autobiographical books included "Dog Days" (1930) and "Speaking for Myself" (1943).

Following an episode with a Ouija board in 1918, Stewart and Betty White became part of a small group who regularly contacted entities on "the other side," with White transcribing what "came through" and the discussion it engendered. This eventually led to White writing "The Betty Book" (1937), followed by "Across the Unknown" (1939). Betty died in 1939, and afterward she was the one contacted for the book, "The Unobstructed Universe" (1940), which describes the events. "The Betty Book" and "The Unobstructed Universe" are recognized classics in the genre. Another book on this theme was added, "The Stars Are Still There" (1946), and finally a posthumous volume, "With Folded Wings" {1947). An unpublished compilation "The Gaelic Manuscripts" was mimeographed (only 200 copies) and distributed to friends and is now online.
- IMDb mini biography by: Steve Garcia, Cary, IL (qv's & corrections by A. Nonymous)