author
George Hamlin Fitch
1852–1925
Best known as the longtime literary critic of the San Francisco Chronicle, he spent decades guiding readers toward books worth keeping close. His writing mixes a reviewer’s sharp eye with an easy affection for classic literature and travel.
3 Audiobooks
The Critic in the Orient
by George Hamlin Fitch
Modern English Books of Power
by George Hamlin Fitch
Comfort Found in Good Old Books
by George Hamlin Fitch
About the author
Born in Lancaster, New York, in 1852, George Hamlin Fitch became an American newspaperman, columnist, and literary critic whose career was closely tied to the San Francisco Chronicle. He served as the paper’s literary critic and book reviewer from 1880 until his retirement in 1915, building a reputation as a steady, approachable voice on books and reading.
He is especially remembered for his weekly column for the Chronicle’s Sunday book page, where he wrote for more than thirty years. Some of that work was later gathered into Comfort Found in Good Old Books (1911), a title that captures his belief that reading could be both pleasurable and sustaining.
Fitch also published books such as Modern English Books of Power, The Critic in the Orient, The Critic in the Occident, and Great Spiritual Writers of America. Across them, he wrote in a clear, welcoming style that helped general readers feel at home with literature, travel, and cultural commentary. He died in 1925.