Frank Harris

Born James Thomas Harris in Galway on February 14, 1856, Frank Harris became an Irish-American editor, journalist, novelist, and short-story writer. As a young man he emigrated to the United States and worked a string of jobs before returning to Europe, experiences that helped shape the adventurous, self-dramatizing voice that runs through much of his writing.

Harris built his reputation in journalism and publishing, editing major London periodicals and mixing with many of the best-known writers of his age, including Oscar Wilde and George Bernard Shaw. He was known for energy, nerve, and a taste for controversy, and his books ranged from fiction and literary criticism to memoir.

Today he is best known for My Life and Loves, an autobiography famous for its sexual frankness and equally famous for being treated with caution by biographers and critics. He died in Nice, France, in 1931, leaving behind a career that was as colorful and debated as the stories he told about himself.