author
Robert Bloomer Hare Bell
1872–1956
A Canadian-born Episcopal minister, social reformer, and storyteller, he wrote with a warm imagination that carried readers from fairy-tale adventures to gentle moral lessons. His best-known surviving book, The Laughing Bear and Other Stories, shows his gift for blending fantasy, humor, and a preacher’s eye for human character.
1 Audiobook
The laughing bear, and other stories
by Robert Bloomer Hare Bell
About the author
Born in Ottawa on April 2, 1872, Robert Bloomer Hare Bell was a Canadian-born Episcopal minister who later worked in the United States. Records and library sources connect him with church work in Seattle, Omaha, and Des Moines, where he also became known for public advocacy on social issues.
Alongside his ministry, Bell wrote books and stories. The work most clearly associated with him today is The Laughing Bear and Other Stories, a collection of imaginative tales for younger readers that mixes adventure, whimsy, and a thoughtful moral tone. His writing feels shaped by both a pastor’s concern for people and a storyteller’s delight in unusual settings and memorable characters.
Bell died on November 14, 1956. Though he is not widely known now, his surviving work offers a glimpse of an author who moved easily between religious life, reform-minded public service, and children’s literature.