Beryl Epstein

Beryl Williams Epstein was born in Columbus, Ohio. She was a reporter and editor for the New Jersey Daily Home News and Sunday Times as well as an editor for American Scholar. In 1937, she began collaborating with her fiancé Samuel Epstein to write children's books. The couple married the following year and continued to work on projects. Together they wrote under their names and under the pseudonyms Adam Allen, Martin Colt, Douglas Coe, Charles Strong, and Bruce Campbell. Depending on the type of story the two were writing, they would divide the work with each writing certain sections of the book. Other times, the couple would come up with a flexible outline and one would start the story from the beginning, and the other would begin in the middle. Later, they would work out any differences or problems in the flow of the story. According to the couple, even though they wrote books separately, they enjoyed writing together much more. The couple is most noted for their ability to write as a team in many genres, including mystery and adventure stories, realistic fiction, historical fiction, informational books, and biographies. [de Grummond Collection, University of Southern Mississippi]