J. W. (Jacob William) Wright

Born in 1871, Jacob William Wright was an American writer whose surviving reputation rests mainly on The Long Ago, a brief, nostalgic memoir published in 1916. The book looks back on boyhood in Wisconsin and is often described as semi-autobiographical, with affectionate sketches of home, seasons, work, and family life.

Available records suggest that he spent important early years in Watertown, Wisconsin, where his grandparents were a strong influence on him. Later notices connected him with Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, and modern library and public-domain catalogs consistently identify him as living from 1871 to 1950.

Wright does not seem to have left behind a large public profile, which makes his writing all the more interesting: it preserves the feel of ordinary American life through memory rather than fame. For listeners who enjoy reflective, old-fashioned autobiographical writing, his work offers a quiet charm.