Howard M. Brier

Howard Maxwell Brier (20 March 1903 – October 1969) was an American fiction writer. He wrote primarily adventure and mystery books for teens.

Brier was born in River Falls, Wisconsin. When he was six, the family moved to Everett, Washington, in order to be in a healthier climate for his sick father.

Brier was educated at the University of Washington (1925) and did graduate work at the University of California. He worked as a reporter and later in the advertising department of several newspapers in Seattle. Following that, he became a high school English teacher and later vice-principal of Garfield High School and then principal of Edmond Meany jr. high school in Seattle. Brier later joined the faculty of the University of Washington as a professor of journalism. He was awarded a Gold Key by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association in 1954, for service to student journalism at the university.

Brier's set many of his plots in the Pacific Northwest, where he lived. He wrote in a direct style, depending more on action than on description to make his characters come alive. Because he always held a full-time non-writing job, Brier often serialized his stories in magazines, such as Boys' Life, and then later collected the installments and published them in book form.

As a journalism professor and consultant, Brier had definite views on what makes good writing: "Very few of us will ever do anything of literary merit. Good sound craftsmanship, is what we need. How do we become sound craftsmen? (i) write to sell; (ii) write for interest— keep your reader always in mind; (iii) write briefly, clearly and concisely. The beginning writer's most popular fault is redundancy. When writing for the general public, keep it simple."

Brier married Grace Kjelstad in 1930. The couple had two children, Nancy and Warren, both deceased. Howard continued to live in Seattle after Grace died in 1965, and died there aged 66 in October 1969.

A notable relative was brother Royce Brier, a longtime columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle and Pulitzer prize winner for reporting in 1934.