Van Powell

Ardon Van Buren Powell, who also wrote as A. Van Buren Powell and Van Powell, was an American screenwriter and adventure writer born in Macon, Georgia, in 1886. He moved to New York as a child, later graduated from Dewitt Clinton High School, and built an early career as a writer and reviewer before entering the silent film business.

From 1912 to 1921, he worked in New York's movie industry, writing scenarios and adaptations during the formative years of American film. One of his nonfiction credits, The Photoplay Synopsis (1919), shows how closely he was involved with the practical craft of screen storytelling.

When film production shifted west, Powell stayed in the East and turned to juvenile fiction. He wrote several adventure series for young readers, including the Bud Bright, Mystery Boys, and Sky Scouts books, along with later standalone mysteries. No suitable confirmed portrait image was found on the sources checked, so a profile image is not included.