Robert Plate, a freelance writer and author of historical biographies for young people, has died in East Hampton, N.Y. He was 86.
His May 14 death, after a lengthy illness, was announced by his family.
Mr. Plate wrote “The Dinosaur Hunters: Othniel C. Marsh and Edward D. Cope” (1964), about the fierce rivalry of the 19th Century paleontologists.
He also wrote “Palette and Tomahawk: The Story of George Catlin” (1962); “Alexander Wilson: Wanderer in the Wilderness” (1966); “Charles Willson Peale: Son of Liberty, Father of Art and Science” (1967), and “John Singleton Copley: America’s First Great Artist” (1969).
Mr. Plate attended Duke University and New York University in the 1930s and started writing in 1940.
A conscientious objector in World War II, he served as a firefighter with Dorothy Day’s Catholic Workers instead.
Early in his career, he contributed to comic strips such as Capt. Midnight and wrote crime tales and short stories. Later he wrote articles for national and arts journals and scripts for television.
Besides a brother, Mr. Plate is survived by two sisters.
