Edward John De Roo was born in Rochester, New York, on 7 July 1922, the son of Isaac De Roo and his wife Hazel. Isaac was a first generation American, his parents having imigrated from Holland. Their son — and a daughter, Ruth, born a year later — were both born in New York. He was raised in Rochester and lived in New York most of his life following periods in Cleveland, New Haven, Colorado and Hollywood.
After obtaining his master's degree at the University of Denver, he studied at Yale University (1947-50) and received his Master of Fine Arts in June 1950, his thesis being a production and study of Joseph Kesselring's Arsenic and Old Lace. It was noted in a 1956 newspaper report that he "developed his interest in the stage as one of the organizers of the Quilting Club and president of the Stagers." (Rochester Review, November 1956) At that time, he was working as an instructor in radio and television production at the University of Southern California, where he also produced a TV show, Halls of Science, in cooperation with NBC. Five years earlier, he had worked for the American Telecasting Corporation, a TV training school in Hollywood, where he taught future directors, actors, cameramen and writers.
He also produced a radio series for the Ford Foundation which he narrated and directed. America: Fifty Years of Growth was distributed by the Educational Television Radio Center, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
He later worked as a Professor of Communications at Nassau Community College, where he taught many young men and women how to communicate. He died on 20 June 1988.
The Digit cover for The Big Rumble was a reprint of an unsigned Ace paperback, D for Delinquent by Bud Clifton (D-270) from 1959. The cover for Go, Man, Go! was from the Ace edition of the same book.
The Fires of Youth. New York, Ace Books (S-105), May 1955.
The Young Wolves. New York, Ace Books (D-343), Feb 1959.
Go, Man, Go!. New York, Ace Books (D-406), Dec 1959, London, Digit Books (R357), May 1960.
Rumble at the Housing Project. New York, Ace Books (D-417), Jan 1960; as The Big Rumble, London, Digit Books (R360), Jun 1960.
The Little Caesars. New York, Ace Books (D-486), Jan 1961.
Plays
The Armpit, 1967
Call Me Ethel, 1967
That's Where All the Money Is, 1970
Non-fiction
Recommendations for the teaching of a beginning course in playwriting for college students. Teachers College, 1969.
The original artwork for D for Delinquent was auctioned some years ago. The artwork was reused on the cover of the first (1997) edition of Teenage Confidential: An Illustrated History of the American Teen by Michael Barson and Steven Heller.
I met Edward in about 1959 and paled around with him before going over seas in the U.S.Navy. He asked if he could model one of his characters after me, and sent the book to me [first wife disposed of it] but I do still have pictures of us together. I enjoyed knowing Edward and reading his books, only regret loosing contact with him.
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