Edward Harris Heth was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on 13 September 1909. He was
educated at Washington High School and the University of Wisconsin. He was an author
who wrote novels and magazine articles, his work often focused on Milwaukee or
autobiographical subjects. After college, Heth moved to New York, working in the
advertising business. In the 1940s, he moved his residence to Wales, Wisconsin. Heth
died 26 April 1963 and is buried in Salem Jerusalem Cemetery, in Wales, Wisconsin
next to his longtime partner, William Henry Chancey, Jr.
One of Heth’s most successful works was Any Number Can
Play, a novel published in 1945 that fictionalized the story of his
father, a well-known Milwaukee gambler. The novel was adapted into the 1949 film of
the same name, starring Clark Gable and Alexis Smith. Some of Heth’s other novels
include: Some We Loved, Told with a Drum, Light over Ruby
Street, We are the Robbers, My Life on Earth, If You Lived Here, and The
Wonderful World of Cooking.
