author
James Frederic Thorne
b. 1871
Best known for In the Time That Was, he was an American writer whose work ranged from Alaska-inspired storytelling to practical trade writing. Surviving records also describe him as an engineer and publisher, giving his small body of work an unusual, wide-ranging character.
1 Audiobook
In the Time That Was
by James Frederic Thorne
About the author
James Frederic Thorne was an American author born in 1871. Public-domain library and catalog records connect him most clearly with In the Time That Was (1909), a book of legends linked to the Chilkat people of Alaska, and with Chinese Eggs, a much more practical work on production and trade.
Wikisource and Wikidata describe him as an American engineer and publisher as well as a writer. That mix helps explain the range of subjects attached to his name: literary retellings on one hand, and technical or commercial material on the other.
Biographical details about his life are scarce in the sources readily available online, so a full personal portrait is hard to confirm. Even so, the surviving record suggests a writer with varied interests whose work moved between regional storytelling, publishing, and applied industry topics.