Henry A. (Henry Augustus) Shute

Born in Exeter, New Hampshire, in 1856, he studied at Phillips Exeter Academy and graduated from Harvard in 1879. He stayed closely tied to his hometown, building a career there as a lawyer and later serving as a judge of the municipal court.

In the 1890s he began writing weekly pieces for the Exeter News-Letter, drawing on memories of boyhood. Those sketches led to The Real Diary of a Real Boy in 1902, the book that brought him national recognition and introduced many readers to his humorous, affectionate picture of everyday New England life.

He went on to write many more books and also published in the Saturday Evening Post. His papers, preserved by the University of New Hampshire, show the lasting place he held in Exeter as both a local public figure and a widely read storyteller.