Harold Leland Goodwin (November 20, 1914-February 18, 1990) was an American author and a popular science writer with a strong technical background and a sense of style unusual in the juvenile adventure-series field. The books are suspenseful, well-plotted, atmospheric, and enriched by humor and acute characterization as well as personal experience. Rick Brant is the central character in a series of 24 adventure and mystery novels by John Blaine, a pseudonym for authors Harold L. Goodwin (all titles) and Peter J. Harkins (co-author of the first three).
Known to his friends as Hal Goodwin, Goodwin wrote popular science books, mostly about space exploration, as Harold L. Goodwin, "Hal Goodwin" and "Harold Leland Goodwin". He also wrote children's books as Blake Savage (Rip Foster Rides the Gray Planet) and John Blaine (the Rick Brant series).[1] In the latter case, he co-wrote (with Peter J. Harkins) the first three books in the series and wrote books 4 through 24 by himself. In 1947, he wrote The Feathered Cape, a boy's adventure novel set in Hawaii. It was based on events leading up to the Battle of the Nu'uanu Valley (1795) in the war for Hawaiian unification. (Wikipedia)