author
Harry James Smith
1880–1918
A playwright and novelist with a scientist's training, he moved from classrooms and magazine offices into Broadway success before his life was cut short at 37. He is best remembered for A Tailor-Made Man, a hit 1917 comedy that later reached the screen.
1 Audiobook
Cape Breton Tales
by Harry James Smith
About the author
Born in New Britain, Connecticut, in 1880, Harry James Smith studied at Williams College and Harvard before beginning his career in academia. He taught for a few years, then left teaching to work in publishing, including a period at The Atlantic Monthly.
Smith went on to build a reputation as an American playwright and novelist. His best-known work is A Tailor-Made Man, first produced in 1917 and successful enough to be adapted into films after his death. He also wrote other stage works and fiction, bringing a polished, witty style to popular entertainment of the period.
He died in 1918 in New Westminster, British Columbia, while still young, but his work continued to circulate on stage and in film. His career was brief, yet it shows an unusual path from biology and teaching to commercial theater and literary writing.