Louis Becke

George Lewis Becke was born on June 18, 1855, in Port Macquarie, New South Wales. After leaving Australia as a teenager, he worked across the Pacific as a trader, ship's supercargo, storekeeper, and clerk. His experiences in Samoa, the Ellice Islands, New Britain, the Marshall Islands, and elsewhere gave him a deep knowledge of Pacific life and supplied the material for much of his fiction.

Becke began publishing stories in The Bulletin in 1893 after encouragement from editor J. F. Archibald and writer Ernest Favenc. His first collection, By Reef and Palm, appeared in 1894, followed by The Ebbing of the Tide and many other story collections, novels, travel works, and historical books. He wrote about thirty-four books, including works produced with Walter James Jeffery.

Although his books were widely read and admired for their energetic storytelling, financial success did not bring him lasting security. Becke returned to Sydney in 1909 and spent his final years in poor health. He died of cancer on February 18, 1913, leaving behind a substantial body of writing about the South Seas.