Henry Sydnor Harrison

Born in Sewanee, Tennessee, in 1880, he was educated at Columbia University and later worked on the staff of the Richmond Times-Dispatch from 1900 to 1910. His experience in journalism helped shape the clear, engaged style that readers came to know in his fiction.

He went on to devote himself mainly to novels, with Queed (1911) and V. V.'s Eyes (1913) generally regarded as his best-known books. His writing was popular in its day for its realistic feel and its interest in American social life, and he also contributed work to magazines including The Atlantic.

He died in 1930. Though less widely read now than some of his contemporaries, he remains an appealing figure for readers interested in the bridge between newspaper writing and the American novel of the early 1900s.