William O. Steele

William O. Steele (1917–1979) was an American author. He was married to another author, Mary Quintard Govan.

Steele was born in Franklin, Tennessee, the son of Core and Sue, and spent a large amount of his youth exploring the woods around his home. This led to an interest in the history of the area and of its pioneers. Steele would eventually become an author of thirty-nine books; he wrote his historical adventure stories in his home on Signal Mountain, Tennessee, which was the setting for many of his fiction stories. His book, The Perilous Road, which was published in 1958, won the Newbery Honor in 1959. Winter Danger earned the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award in 1962.

A few of his other books include:

• The Golden Root (1951)
• The Buffalo Knife (1952)
• Wilderness Journey (1953)
• Winter Danger (1954)
• Tomahawks and Trouble (1955)
• Flaming Arrows (1957)
• The Perilous Road (1958)
• The Spooky Thing (1960)
• The Man with the Silver Eyes (1976)
• The Silver Amulet (1979)