Biography:

Writer, editor. Born– April 1, 1891, Philadelphia, Pa. Parents– Herman Hoffman and Elizabeth Cherrill (Boude) Birney. Married– Marguerite Agnes Bovington, June 14, 1930. Children– One. Education– Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pa., 1908-1912. Served in the Army during World War I; attached to the Philadelphia Regional Office of the Office of War Sources, 1943-1947; technical writer for the Army missile program at Fort Bliss, Tex., after 1947; served as editor of Rocket Research and Development; editor of Ammunition and Small Arms Research and Development for the U.S. Army Ordnance Department. Member of Phi Delta Theta. Books were written under the pseudonym, David Kent. Lived in Huntsville at the end of his life. Died June 2, 1958.

Source:

Who Was Who in America, Vol. 3, and Obituaries on File, 1979.

Publication(s):

Ann Carmeny. New York; G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1941.

Ay-chee, Son of the Desert. Philadelphia; Penn Pub. Co., 1939.

Barrier Ranch. Philadelphia; Penn Pub. Co., 1933.

Brothers of Doom; the Story of the Pizarros of Peru. New York; G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1942.

The Ca’non of Lost Waters. Philadelphia; Penn Pub. Co., 1929.

Dead Man’s Trail. Philadelphia; The Penn Pub. Co., 1937.

The Dice of God. New York; Holt, 1956.

Eagle in the Sun. New York; Putnam, 1935.

Forgotten Ca’non. New York; Triangle Books, 1934.

Grim Journey; the Story of the Adventures of the Emigrating Company Known as the Donner Party, which, in the Year 1846, Crossed the Plains from Independence, Missouri, to California. New York; Minton, Balch & Co., 1934.

Jason Burr’s First Case, by David Kent (pseud.). New York; Random House, 1941.

King of the Mesa. Philadelphia; Penn Pub. Co., 1927.

A Knife is Silent, by David Kent (pseud.). New York; Random House, 1947.

The Masked Rider. New York; Grossett & Dunlap, 1928.

Mountain Chief, an Indian Legend for Children. Philadelphia; Penn Pub. Co., 1938.

The Pinto Pony, a Real Horse Story. Philadelphia; Penn Pub. Co., 1930.

Roads to Roam. Philadelphia; Penn Pub. Co., 1930.

Steeldust; the Story of a Horse. New York; Grossett & Dunlap, 1928.

A Stranger in Black Butte. Philadelphia; Penn Pub. Co., 1936.

Tu’kwi of the Peaceful People. Philadelphia; Penn Pub. Co., 1933.

Two Little Navajos; a Tale of the Children of the Painted Desert. Philadelphia; Penn Pub. Co., 1931.

Vigilantes; a Chronicle of the Rise and Fall of the Plummer Gang of Outlaws In and About Virginia City, Montana, In the Early ’60s. Philadelphia; Penn Pub. Co., 1929.

Zealots of Zion. Philadelphia; Penn Pub Co., 1931.

Joint_Publication(s):

Holy Murder; the Story of Porter Rockwell. New York; Minton, Balch, 1934.