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| Ted Bell | |
Author Theodore August Bell III--better known as Ted Bell--died on January 20 of an intracerebral hemorrhage. He was 76.
He wrote several series: the Alex Hawke spy thrillers and the young adult adventure series, Nick McGiver Adventures Through Time. Among his dozen Alex Hawke titles, Tsar dealt with the rise of the "New Russia," the return of the KGB and the new "Evil Empire"; Warlord revolved around a vendetta against the British royal family beginning with the 1979 murder of Lord Mountbatten; and Overkill deals with Vladimir Putin and the kidnapping of Hawke's son, Alexei.
Nick of Time was a World War II time-travel adventure novel that featured Nick McIver, Lord Richard Hawke, Archibald "Gunner" Steele, Kate McIver (Nick's younger sister), Commander Hobbes (Lord Hawke's colleague, a brilliant weapons designer), the murderous pirate captain Billy Blood, and his cohort Snake Eye.
Nick of Time's sequel was The Time Pirate, which dealt with the Nazi invasion of the Channel Islands and Nick McIver's role in George Washington's victory over Cornwallis at the Battle of Yorktown in 1781.
His work has been translated into 17 languages.
Before becoming a writer, Bell had a career in advertising, which began in 1976 when he joined Doyle Dane Bernbach as a junior copywriter. He became the youngest v-p at the company before becoming creative director at Leo Burnett Co., where he was named president and chief creative officer in 1986, at age 40. In 1991, Hall joined Young & Rubicam, London, as vice chairman and worldwide creative director. After 10 years at the creative helm of Y&R, he retired in 2001 to write full time.
In 2011-2012, Sir Richard Dearlove, former chief of MI6, sponsored Bell to become a visiting scholar at Cambridge University. He was named writer-in-residence at Sydney-Sussex College, Cambridge. In 2013, Bell gave the inaugural lecture for the exhibit "Spy: The Secret World of Espionage" at the Reagan Library in California.
Family said, "Ted was known for his creative talents, intelligence, wit, and sense of humor. He was a true Southern gentleman. He was loved by all his friends and family. He will be truly missed and always be remembered."