Jack Bethea
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Brief Biography
Jack Bethea was born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama. He began his career as a cub reporter for The Birmingham Age-Herald while still in high school and continued working as a reporter until 1916, when he became the city editor of The Birmingham Ledger. Following the closure of the Ledger, Bethea worked at a local department store before joining The Birmingham Post as a managing editor in 1921. Alongside his journalism pursuits, Bethea also dabbled in fiction writing and was associated with the Loafers' Club, a group of Birmingham writers. His short stories and serialized novels gained recognition and were published in national magazines like Collier's. Bethea published four novels between 1924 and 1928, two of which were adapted into motion pictures. In 1928, Bethea struggled with a lingering illness and committed suicide in a downtown Birmingham hotel in July of that year.
Publications
Half Gods. Boston; Houghton-Mifflin, 1923.
Honor Bound. Boston; Houghton, 1926.
The Deep Seam. Boston; Houghton, 1927.
Cotton: A Novel. Boston; Houghton, 1928.
Bed Rock. Boston; Houghton, 1928.
Honor Bound. Boston; Houghton, 1926.
The Deep Seam. Boston; Houghton, 1927.
Cotton: A Novel. Boston; Houghton, 1928.
Bed Rock. Boston; Houghton, 1928.
Themes
Jack Bethea was a journalist and fiction writer. Themes in his novels include coal mining and agriculture. His works are known for their realism and southern settings.
Publisher
Alabama Authors of the 19th and 20th Centuries, edited by Beverley Park Rilett, http://AlabamaAuthors.org
Collection
Citation
Bethea, Jack, “Jack Bethea,” Alabama Authors of the 19th & 20th Centuries, accessed September 7, 2024, https://alabamaauthors.org/items/show/541.