WC grad wrote 70 novels
The cover of W. Todhunter Ballard’s book “Gold in California.”
Submitted photo
Editor’s note This is the latest installment in monthly sesquicentennial moments highlighting Wilmington College’s 150-year anniversary, which is being observed through September 2021.
W. Todhunter Ballard (1903-1980), a member of Wilmington College’s class of 1926, achieved distinction as a story writer of 70 western and mystery novels.
He was born in Cleveland and attended Westtown Friends School (Pa.) before enrolling at Wilmington College. During World War II, he was stationed at Wright Field in Dayton and Clinton County Army Airfield.
Ballard began his professional writing career as the editor of an electrical trade magazine. Following college, he gained knowledge in that field when he worked for his father’s company, F.W. Ballard Co., for two years as an engineer constructing power plants and transmission lines.