Snell, George F.

Radio announcer and station owner, scriptwriter.

George Francis Snell, Jr., the son of Clara (ne_ Strauss) and George F. Snell, Sr., was born on June 9, 1920. He grew up in St. Paul (Minn.), graduating from St. Paul Mechanic Arts High School in 1937. His interest in writing and journalism was already apparent. During high school he was prose editor and editor-in-chief of Seedlings, the creative writing class' publication. He also contributed articles to the school newspaper, Cogwheel . In the fall of 1937 Snell attended Harvard University (Cambridge, Mass.). While at Harvard his interest in writing gained momentum. He wrote essays, short stories, started a novella, and tried to publish his prose and journalistic articles. His letters to his parents are filled with news of his writing projects, hunting and fishing, and dating. During 1939-1940 Snell's strong interest in hunting, fishing, and sporting led him to design and construct an unusual form of crossbow. He wrote an article about this crossbow, which was published in Popular Science (April 1940). He graduated from Harvard in 1941 and returned to Minnesota.

On June 29, 1942 he joined the U.S. Army and was assigned to active duty on June 16, 1943. In November 1943 he was sent overseas, assigned to Group "A" Civil Censorship Division, Munich Censorship District, ETOUSA (European Theater of Operations, United States Army). He became a Censorship Officer in the OCS and was promoted to First Lieutenant. During his service he contracted and survived rheumatic fever and a few other minor illnesses.

While in the army he met Lieutenant Julia T. Graves, a nurse in the Army Nurse Corps, who was also stationed near Munich. They had a serious relationship, during which they had tense discussions of, and decided not to, get married, though they continued to correspond. She chose to re-enlist, and did not return to the United States when Snell was discharged. He continued to write, working on a children's story and articles about hunting and fishing.

In 1946, he was sent to the regional hospital at Fort George G. Meade (Maryland) for examination and disposition. He had been diagnosed with "valvular heart disease, aortic regurgitation, moderate," on June 24, 1946, on which date he was declared incapacitated for active duty. At Fort Meade he was examined by two medical officers as part of the proceedings for a medical discharge. They confirmed the diagnosis and report that the illness was probably caused by rheumatic fever, as Snell had no history of heart problems before his military service. Snell was granted an honorable discharge.

Snell then returned to Minnesota, gaining some success as a journalist. He published several articles in Sports Afield magazine, where he became an associate editor. He arranged to have his children's book illustrated by Frank B. Evans of Minneapolis. The children's book and Snell's novella were never published. Snell died of heart failure at the Veterans Administration Hospital at Fort Snelling (Minnesota) on September 24, 1947.