William Edwin Bell (27 October 1945 – 30 July 2016)[1] was a Canadian author of young adult fiction, born in Toronto, Ontario.
[citation needed] He was frequently invited to give presentations at conferences and to speak to elementary and secondary school students on creative writing.
[citation needed] The inspiration to become a writer came to Bell when he heard a speech by John Metcalf, author of one of his favourite short stories.
[5] Bell wrote many books, including three set near his home in Orillia, Ontario (Five Days of the Ghost, Stones and Fanatics), two in Barrie (Death Wind, The Cripples' Club), one in Toronto (Julian) and one in Fergus (Zack).
His books have been translated into Chinese, French, German, Spanish, Polish, Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch and Japanese.