Burt M. (Burt Morton) McConnell

Born in 1888, Burt M. McConnell was an American newspaper and magazine writer whose work ranged across aviation, exploration, and current affairs. Archival records at Dartmouth describe him as a secretary to explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson and a freelance writer, and his surviving papers include diaries, correspondence, and material connected to the Canadian Arctic Expedition and the Karluk rescue mission.

Reference sources for his writings describe him as a specialist in aviation and Arctic exploration. He is best known today for works such as Tales of the Air Mail Pilots, which captures the dangers and excitement of the early U.S. Air Mail Service, and for later nonfiction including Mexico at the Bar of Public Opinion. A review of that later book notes that McConnell had been a member of The Literary Digest staff from 1919 to 1929.

McConnell died in 1960. His books remain appealing to readers who enjoy brisk, documentary-style storytelling about explorers, pilots, and the fast-changing world of the early twentieth century.