Richard Halliburton Biography

Biography of one of America's greatest adventure travel writer.
Comments on article "Richard Halliburton Biography"
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Fred Schoning A few years ago your readers discussed a biography on the adventurer and travel writer Richard Halliburton. I only recently found some references to Halliburton when I was browsing the net.
One of your commentators was Justin Peel who mentioned that his grandfather had been connected with Halliburton in China. I would like to contact Justin. Justin's grandfather was my uncle. My uncle, Rex Purcell, attempted to sail a Chinese junk to the 1939 New York Worlds Fair. I would appreciate any communication from Justin. I have numerous items and photos from this era. All of the items were inherited by me from Rex Purcell, Justin's grandfather. I would love to hear from Justin or Cheryl, his mother.
10/19/2009
Jed Mills Great biography of a fascinating man. I think it would have been better if the fact that he was "a confirmed bachelor" was mentioned. Also, I wonder if the ship was really lost in a storm. It was heavily built and had a good crew. Although it appeared top-heavy, it may have had adequate ballast. Halliburton was bringing great publicity and good will of the Chinese to the USA, and the Japanese were at war with the Chinese. Halliburton made his plans well known to the Japanese. It would have been a simple matter for the Japanese to secretly monitor Halliburton's radio transmissions while following his junk in a submerged submarine until they felt that no further intelligence was forthcoming over the radio, and torpedo him. Halliburton may have been providing information to the US government. At about the same time, famed aviatrix Amelia Earhart disappeared in the same area. 5/17/2009
Constance Richard Halliburton's Book of Marvels, read before the age of ten in the 1940s, had the most formative influence on my life, fortunately along with Albert Schweitzer. Re-reading the Book of Marvels in 2009 is still a trip - both nostalgic and inspiring. Thanks to Halliburton, I'm still on the road, still savoring my two main passions: learning first-hand about the world and rendering service to humanity. 4/4/2009
kylu cool dude intresting 3/25/2008
Judy Bacon This is an excellent biography of my distant cousin, Richard Halliburton. I would like permission to post a copy of it on my family tree website, with credit to the author. 3/10/2008
Dan Herold The biographer is incorrect. Halliburton was not an only child. He had a brother who predeceased him. The brother died of menigitis if I recall correctly. 8/3/2007
Frances Bray An excellent biography 5/22/2007
cole a) Birthdate is 9 Jan 1900, not 7 Jan as you have. Ref.: "Richard Halliburton: His Story of His Life's Adventure, As Told in Letters to His Mother and Father," Bobbs-Merrill, 1940.

b) The "last message" you quote is actually the next-to-last. See "Halliburton: The Magnificent Myth" by Jonathan Root, pub early 1960s, which quotes both letters.

c) Paul Mooney was more than Halliburton's "friend"; RH was gay and PM was his lover for many years. Halliburton's homosexuality is largely suppressed in Root's bio because it was written in close collaboration with RH's parents, although there are many allusions throughout and one doesn't have to be particularly skilled at reading between the lines to find them. Even letters to/from PM seem to be missing from the list of RH's papers which Princeton has online.

11/10/2006
callie its really brave of richard to do that! 11/10/2006
Justin Peel The chinese junk was called "Green Dragon" not "Sea Dragon". I know this story all too well. As told by my grandfather Rex E. Purcell, he sailed it's sister ship called, "Pan-jin" months before Halliburton's departure from Hong Kong, it too sank but he and his crew survived near Aden. 9/19/2006
Dan Scott Halliburton was born on January 9th not the 7th. 1/30/2006
Gary G. Taylor Regarding Halliburton, Richard bio:

a) Birthdate is 9 Jan 1900, not 7 Jan as you have. Ref.: "Richard Halliburton: His Story of His Life's Adventure, As Told in Letters to His Mother and Father," Bobbs-Merrill, 1940.

b) The "last message" you quote is actually the next-to-last. See "Halliburton: The Magnificent Myth" by Jonathan Root, pub early 1960s, which quotes both letters.

c) Paul Mooney was more than Halliburton's "friend"; RH was gay and PM was his lover for many years. Halliburton's homosexuality is largely suppressed in Root's bio because it was written in close collaboration with RH's parents, although there are many allusions throughout and one doesn't have to be particularly skilled at reading between the lines to find them. Even letters to/from PM seem to be missing from the list of RH's papers which Princeton has online.

12/29/2005
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