John Luther Long

Born in Hanover, Pennsylvania, on January 1, 1861, John Luther Long built his career first as a lawyer in Philadelphia before becoming known as a fiction writer and playwright. He wrote for magazines and later for the stage, moving between legal work and literary work with unusual ease.

His best-known work is the short story Madame Butterfly, first published in the late 1890s. Long drew on stories and recollections shared by his sister, Jennie Correll, who had lived in Japan with her missionary husband. The story was later adapted for the stage with David Belasco, and that version helped inspire Puccini's opera Madama Butterfly.

Long died on October 31, 1927. Today he is remembered less as a prolific man of letters than as the writer whose single most famous story traveled far beyond print, shaping one of the best-known works in the operatic repertoire.