William Frank Stanton (October 16, 1918 – December 31, 1996) was an American humorist whose short stories and articles appeared in monthly magazines such as Reader's Digest, Woman's Day, Saturday Evening Post and The New Yorker.
When Will was fifteen years old, his youngest brother, John, was born by emergency cesarean section and their mother died eight days later of complications.
[citation needed] He retained fond memories of his upbringing that were represented in his writing, particularly in his second book, THE GOLDEN EVENINGS OF SUMMER.
[citation needed] Will grew up nearby in Chagrin Falls, attended Princeton University, where he earned a degree in English, and then joined the Army Air Corps, where he served as a flight officer and flew glider planes in France during the Second World War.
His story "Barney", about a rat who outsmarts a scientist, and "Dodger Fan", about a Mars alien coming to earth and being introduced to the game of baseball, were both published in the 1950s and have been the most requested articles for reprint in English books in Norway, Germany, Canada, and the US, and in science fiction anthologies.