Edward Noyes Westcott

Born in Syracuse, New York, Edward Noyes Westcott spent most of his life in his hometown and built his working career in banking rather than in literature. Reliable reference sources describe him as an American banker and novelist, and note that he left school as a teenager to begin clerical work before moving deeper into banking.

Westcott is remembered chiefly for David Harum: A Story of American Life, a novel set in upstate New York. The book was published in 1898 after his death and became an enormous success, making him one of those writers whose reputation was created almost overnight, but too late for him to enjoy it.

He died in Syracuse in 1898 at the age of 51. What makes his story memorable is the contrast between an ordinary professional life and a single novel that captured readers so strongly that it outlived him.