Author. He was a writer of short stories and novels, and was noted for his "Mr. Moto" spy novels. When financial problems broke up his family he was sent to be raised by aunts who were involved in the Transcendentalist and abolitionist movements. He attended Newburyport High School and received a scholarship to Harvard College. Because of his financial situation he was treated as an outsider at Harvard. He was turned down by the "Harvard Crimson" newspaper but was elected to the editorial board of the "Harvard Lampoon". After graduating in 1915 he worked at "The Boston Evening Transcript" as a reporter and later on its bi-weekly magazine section. He served in the National Guard in Mexico during World War I. His ambivalent attitude about the power of old-line elite families was reflected in his work. His first noted work as a writer was the biography, "Lord Timothy Dexter", a life story of a Newburyport eccentric published in 1925. In the 1930s he became a successful short story writer, writing novels about the dilemmas of class in New England, winning the 1938 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for the novel "The Late George Apley". From 1935 to 1957 he wrote the successful "Mr. Moto" spy novels, with eight motion pictures eventually being produced that were loosely based on the novels. In 1944 "Live Magazine" called him the most successful novelist in the United States. Late in his life he occasionally wrote satiric short stories which were published in "Sports Illustrated". A collection of the short stories was published as "Life at Happy Knoll".
Author. He was a writer of short stories and novels, and was noted for his "Mr. Moto" spy novels. When financial problems broke up his family he was sent to be raised by aunts who were involved in the Transcendentalist and abolitionist movements. He attended Newburyport High School and received a scholarship to Harvard College. Because of his financial situation he was treated as an outsider at Harvard. He was turned down by the "Harvard Crimson" newspaper but was elected to the editorial board of the "Harvard Lampoon". After graduating in 1915 he worked at "The Boston Evening Transcript" as a reporter and later on its bi-weekly magazine section. He served in the National Guard in Mexico during World War I. His ambivalent attitude about the power of old-line elite families was reflected in his work. His first noted work as a writer was the biography, "Lord Timothy Dexter", a life story of a Newburyport eccentric published in 1925. In the 1930s he became a successful short story writer, writing novels about the dilemmas of class in New England, winning the 1938 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for the novel "The Late George Apley". From 1935 to 1957 he wrote the successful "Mr. Moto" spy novels, with eight motion pictures eventually being produced that were loosely based on the novels. In 1944 "Live Magazine" called him the most successful novelist in the United States. Late in his life he occasionally wrote satiric short stories which were published in "Sports Illustrated". A collection of the short stories was published as "Life at Happy Knoll".
Bio by: Gail Campbell Schulte
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