Stevens, Robert Louis, 1925-2003

Robert Louis Stevens was born 11 July 1925. The son of Robert Alexander Stephens and Dorothy Sloan Stevens of Asheville, N.C., he matriculated at the University of North Carolina before being inducted into the United States Navy in February 1944. During World War II, Stevens served as a radarman third class aboard the U.S.S. Doyle C. Barnes, a destroyer escort that saw duty in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. After completing his undergraduate studies at the University of North Carolina in 1949, Stevens went on to a career in publishing and advertising in New York, N.Y., while maintaining an avocation as an author of short stories and plays. He retired to Saint Augustine, Fla., and died 19 July 2003.

From the guide to the Robert Louis Stevens Letters and Photographs, 1944-1946, (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.)

Robert Louis Stevens (1925-2003) of Asheville, N.C., served as an enlisted man in the United States Navy during World War II aboard the U.S.S. Doyle C. Barnes, a destroyer escort that saw duty in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. After completing his undergraduate studies at the University of North Carolina in 1949, Stevens went on to a career in publishing and advertising in New York, N.Y. He also wrote short stories and plays. The collection contains letters from Stevens to his parents, 1944-1946. The letters document his service career from boot camp at the U.S. Naval Training Station in Bainbridge, Md., and radar school in Norfolk, Va., to escort and patrol duty in such locations as New Guinea, the Philippines, Borneo, and China. Subject matter primarily consists of daily life in training and active service, especially Stevens's literary interests.

From the description of Robert Louis Stevens letters and photographs, 1944-1946. WorldCat record id: 260023596