William E. "Bill" Brittain was an American author most famous for his writings of the fictional New England village of Coven Tree, including The Wish Giver, a Newbery Honor Book. Brittain decided he wanted to be a 5th-grade teacher, and in addition to teaching, used to read stories in mystery magazines. After some time, he decided he could do as good a job at writing as some of the authors he read; he got coaching on writing from Frederic Dannay of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine. He wrote two serials from 1964 to 1983, as well as other stories, before moving on to the children's books for which he is better known.
Brittain is also the author of the popular book All the Money in the World, which was adapted into a 1983 movie.
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