Harold Leland Goodwin was a Government official and the author of forty-three books, including the Rick Brant Science-Adventure Series.

In addition to writings under his own name, Goodwin's books also appeared under the pen names John Blaine, Blake Savage and Hal Gordon. His twenty-five Rick Brant Science Adventure Series books were published between 1947 and 1968. The series was known for familiarity with the places portrayed in the books; Goodwin's travels on behalf of the Government took him to every continent, including Antarctica. The books were also known for their accurate portrayal of science and of scientific advances. The final book in the series, The Magic Talisman, was printed shortly after his death in 1990.

Goodwin was also known for his books on space travel (The Real Book about Stars, The Real Book About Space Travel, All About Rockets and Space Flight, Space: Frontier Unlimited). During the 1960s, Goodwin served as Special Assistant to the Administrator of NASA, where he handled public interpretation of the Agency's missions and achievements during the original Mercury programs. He serverd as a special Presidential Envoy to Pope John XXIII from whom he obtained blessed Saint Christopher Medals for the original Mercury astronauts.

Prior to joining NASA in 1961, Goodwin served as Director of Atomic Test Operations for the Federal Civil Defense Administration for six years, conducting research into the effects of nuclear weapons on civilian systems and structures at Nevada and Eniwetok. During that time, Goodwin was selected Outstanding Young Man in Federal Service by the United States Junior Chamber of Commerce. he subsequently served as Scientific Advisor to the United States Information Agency, where his responsibilities included planning policy direction for the Agency's world-wide scientific and technical programs.

Before World War II, Goodwin served as White House Correspondant for Transradio News Service. During the war, Goodwin served as a Sergeant and Combat Correspondent in the United States Marine Corps, and saw service in five campaigns in the Pacific. His broadcast from New Caledona over CBS' "New of the World" was the first Armed Services broadcast of the war in the South Pacific. Goodwin was commissioned from the ranks as an officer, and received the Air Medal with Presidential Citation for Meritorious Acts for Combat missions in the South Pacific, including nine sorties over Iwo Jima. Following the war, Goodwin served int he United States Foreign Service for three years in Manila, Philippin Islands, where he developed the State Department's Southeast Asia mass media programs.

In 1969, Goodwin became Deputy Director of the National Sea Grant Program from which he retired in 1973. He conceived and planned Operation FLARE, NOAA's first Man-in-the-Sea project, and he was a Program Director for Operation TEKTITE II. Loaned by Sea Grant to the President's Commission on Marine Science, Engineering, and Resources (the Stratton Commission). Goodwin was the principal writer of the landmark report "Our Nation and the Sea." He also wrote Challenge of the Seven Seas, with Senator Claiborne Pell, and he was the author of Shrimp and Prawn Farming in the Western Hemisphere.

He was the recipient of Meritorious Service Awards from the Federal Civil Defense Administration and from the United States Information Agency, and he received the Silver Medal from the United States Department of Commerce in 1972. Goodwin also was a recipient of the James Dugan award from the American Littoral Society for his contributions to aquatic science, and he was awarded the National Sea Grant Award in 1983. He was a lecturer at American University's Business Council for International Understanding and at the Foreign Service Institute.

He was a member of the World Aquaculture Society, the Antarctican Society, the American Science Film Association, the Marine Technology Society, the National Marine Education Association, the American Littoral Society, the Boston Sea Rovers, the Washington Book Guild, the National Association of Underwater Instructors, and of the International Board of the Professional Association of Diving Instructors.

Born in Ellenburg, New York, on November 20, 1914, he was the son of the late Frank E. and Imogene Van Arman Goodwin. Goodwin died on February 18, 1990 at his home in Bethesda, MD.