Bill Wallace (author)
William Wallace (August 1, 1947 – January 30, 2012) was an American teacher and later an author of children's books. He started writing to quiet down his fourth grade students, who loved his stories and encouraged him to make “real” books. Personal life and career. Wallace was born and raised in Chickasha, Oklahoma. He studied professional writing at the University of Oklahoma. He then got a B.S. in Elementary Education from The University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma in 1971 and an M.S. in Elementary Administration from SWOSU in 1974. He started teaching in 1971, and  became the principal/P.E. teacher at West Elementary in Chickasha in 1977. The school is now named The Bill Wallace Early Education Center. Wallace left the school system in 1988 to pursue writing. He wrote a total of 31 books, seven of which he wrote with his wife Carol. Death. Bill Wallace died from Lung Cancer on January 30, 2012. He's buried in Rose Hill Cemetery in Chickasha, Oklahoma.