Biography
Henry Clay Branson was the author of a number of crime novels written primarily during the 1940s and 1950s featuring detective John Bent, including The Pricking Thumb and The Leaden Bubble . Salisbury Plain was one of his later works. He was born in Battle Creek, Michigan in 1904, and received his B.A. from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in 1937. He died in 1981.
His correspondent, Kenneth Millar (1915-1983), was well known by his pseudonym Ross Macdonald. He was the author of twelve classic novels of detective fiction. His extensive writings include reviews, short stories, poetry, plays, screenplays, and essays. In the 1940s, Millar met and befriended Branson and his wife Anna. The Bransons and Millar were active correspondents through the 1970s.
From the guide to the Henry Clay Branson, Salisbury plain, typescript and correspondence, ca. 1962-1965, (University of California, Irvine. Library. Special Collections and Archives.)
