David W. Beckwith

If David Beckwith’s biography had to be reduced to one word, the word would be “persistence.”David persisted to become the first member of his family to earn a bachelor’s degree and then persisted once again to be the first to receive a master’s degree as well.

In his early twenties, David became the first white teacher to cross the color barrier and agree to teach for an all-black Mississippi school district which had been formally classified by the 5th United States Circuit Court as “in defiance” and then persisted in helping guide it through a federally mandated, court supervised, total immediate desegregation. This experience resulted in David’s first foray as a published author, the critically acclaimed but somewhat controversial narrative, nonfiction book, A New Day In The Delta.

Persistence came into play again in 1969 when David secured a grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce to write a government pamphlet on the then somewhat novel but rapidly growing field of franchising.

Persistence reared its head again when David attempted to embark on a Wall Street career. He interviewed off and on with various New York investment firms for five years before one would risk offering him a training position. This became the beginning of a forty-year investment career ending with his retirement as a senior vice president with Morgan Stanley.

Persistence once again became a factor when David decided he wished to become a published writer. This interest was a natural outgrowth of his childhood. David’s Mississippi hometown chamber of commerce lays claim to having more published authors per capita than any town in the United States. He shopped his first manuscript, A New Day In The Delta, for five years before ultimately selling it to a publisher which had previously rejected it.

Persistence became a factor when David tried t get reviews published on his book. After repeatedly running into brick walls, he began to write his own weekly book review column. This column is currently published in the Key West Citizen and the Florida Free Press. David may have set a record for the time elapsed between a book review’s writing and its publication. A high school book report on Hemingway was published exactly 50 years after it was originally written as an English class book report, not once but four times.

After the success of A New Day In The Delta, David was hooked. He decided despite the odds of success he would turn his attention to fiction. Along with his successful wife, Nancy, another financial services professional, he created the Will and Betsy Black adventure series. This mystery series was inspired by Nick and Nora Charles of the popular 1940’s Thin Man series. This series will soon have six installments. These books combine adventure with Keys humor as two reluctant white-collar, desk-jockey amateur sleuths plow their way through adventures and misadventures.

In addition to his dual careers of finance and writing, David persisted for twenty-five years as an adjunct professor for five different universities and has been in demand as a financial lecturer. In his spare time he has worked as a volunteer for various charitable organizations. He is a Boy Scout Silver Beaver and a former Kiwanis Lieutenant Governor.

Until Nancy’s untimely death from cancer, the Beckwiths had more in common than writing joint novels. They also had a loving, long-standing marriage and raised a successful daughter.