author
Lew Lysle Harr
b. 1882
Best known today for introducing American readers to mah-jong in the early 1920s, this writer captured a moment when the game was just beginning to fascinate the West. His surviving work doubles as both a how-to guide and a small slice of cultural history.
1 Audiobook
About the author
Lew Lysle Harr was an American writer born in 1882. He is chiefly remembered for Pung Chow: The Game of a Hundred Intelligences, an early English-language guide to mah-jong that was published in the 1920s and later preserved by Project Gutenberg and library catalogs.
Records connected with his book listings show him as “Harr, Lew Lysle, 1882-,” while biographical memorial records identify him as Lew Lyle Harr Sr. and give his lifespan as 1882 to 1931. Taken together, these sources suggest he was active during the first big wave of American interest in mah-jong and helped explain the game to a new audience.
Although not much easily verifiable personal information survives online, his book remains a useful window into how mah-jong was introduced and interpreted for English-speaking readers of the time. That gives his work an appeal beyond games alone: it also reflects a lively period of cultural exchange and popular curiosity.