Oursler, Will (William Charles) (1913-1985)

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Oursler, Will (William Charles) (1913-1985)

Author concerned with certain areas of parapsychology. He was born on July 12, 1913, in Baltimore, Maryland. Oursler attended Harvard College and received a B.A. (cum laude) in 1937. He then launched a career as an editor and writer. Ours-ler was a police reporter, magazine editor, and war correspondent accredited to the U.S. Army and U.S. Navy in World War II. As a writer he took a particular interest in inspirational subjects and often wrote and lectured on religion and narcotics. He was a member of the Overseas Press Club, Dutch Treat Club, The Players, P.E.N., Harvard Club of New York, Baker Street Irregulars. His books include: (with the late Fulton Ours-ler) Father Flanagan of Boys Town (1949), (with Lawrence Dwight Smith) Narcotics: America's Peril (1952), The Boy Scout Story (1955), The Healing Power of Faith (1957), The Road to Faith (1960), Family Story (1963), The Atheist: A Novel (1965), Marijuana: The Facts and the Truth (1968), Religion: Out or Way Out? (1968). He has published a number of articles dealing with human problems and religious faith in such magazines as Collier's, Reader's Digest, True, American Weekly, Photoplay. Oursler died January 7, 1985, after a long illness.