Wirt Williams (August 21, 1921 – June 29, 1986) was an American novelist, journalist, and professor of English.
For his reporting on the conditions inside a Louisiana insane asylum, he won a Heywood Broun Newspaper Guild Award.
[2] Both Ada Dallas and The Far Side, his 1972 roman à clef novel were loosely based on the early career of novelist James Jones.
[2] Critic Robert Kirsch called him "a major writer in 20th century American literature" and a "master novelist.
"[3] Shortly after retiring as a professor, Wirt Williams died of a stroke on June 29, 1986.