Frank Gill Slaughter (February 25, 1908 – May 17, 2001), known by his pen-name Frank G. Slaughter and sometimes using the pseudonym C.V. Terry, was an American novelist and physician. His literary works, which sold over 60 million copies, often incorporated his medical expertise, historical interests, and biblical themes, frequently introducing readers to emerging medical research and technologies.

Born in Washington, D.C., to Stephen Lucious Slaughter and Sarah “Sallie” Nicholson Gill, Slaughter moved with his family to a farm near Berea, North Carolina, at a young age. A precocious student, he completed his bachelor’s degree at Trinity College (now Duke University) by age 17 and then attended medical school at Johns Hopkins University. Slaughter’s writing career began while working as a physician at Riverside Hospital in Jacksonville, Florida. His initial foray into writing saw him purchasing a typewriter to draft “That None Should Die,” a semi-autobiographical novel about a young doctor, which he reworked six times before it was accepted by Doubleday.

Several of Slaughter’s novels were adapted into films, most notably “Sangaree,” which became a 1953 movie starring Fernando Lamas, and “Doctors’ Wives,” adapted into a 1971 film featuring Dyan Cannon and Gene Hackman. His extensive bibliography includes titles like “The Purple Quest,” “Surgeon, U.S.A.,” “Tomorrow’s Miracle,” and “The Scarlet Cord,” with his final novel, “Transplant,” published in 1987. Many works initially released under his pseudonym C.V. Terry were later republished under his real name.

Slaughter passed away on May 17, 2001, in Jacksonville, Florida. Notably, William DuBois collaborated as a silent writer on 27 of Slaughter’s historical novels.