Obituaries : * Norman Arthur Daniels; Author of Novels

Norman Arthur Daniels, an author of mystery and Western novels and a longtime Camarillo resident, died Wednesday at St. John’s Pleasant Valley Hospital after a long illness. He was 90.

Daniels, a native of New Britain, Conn., began writing when he was 28 years old, said his wife of 65 years, Dorothy Daniels.

“He sold the first story he wrote,” said Dorothy Daniels, who is also an author. “He was a very talented writer.”

While struggling to survive as a writer in the 1930s, Norman Daniels worked as a clerk at a police station in Connecticut and as an insurance-fraud investigator.

Daniels’ investigative experience served as a source for his mystery stories, his wife said. By the time he stopped writing seven years ago, Daniels had written about 1,000 short stories and a five-book series, she said.

While in Connecticut, Daniels also wrote scripts for radio and television shows. Besides writing, Daniels loved reading and making leather items such as belts and purses, his wife said.

Daniels and his wife moved from Connecticut to Camarillo in 1974.

She is his only survivor.

Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Conejo Mountain Memorial Park in Camarillo.