author
Maro O. (Maro Orlando) Rolfe
1852–1925
A prolific 19th-century newspaperman and storyteller, this American writer moved easily between journalism, frontier adventure, detective fiction, and local history. His work captures the energy of dime novels while also preserving details of the communities and newspapers he knew firsthand.
1 Audiobook
The Phantom Rider; or The Giant Chief's Fate: A tale of the old Dahcotah country
by Maro O. (Maro Orlando) Rolfe
About the author
Born on January 28, 1852, in Monterey, New York, Maro Orlando Rolfe grew up in Lawrenceville, Pennsylvania, where he received his grammar and high school education. He began writing as a teenager and published his first novel in 1867, starting a long career as both a journalist and a popular author.
Rolfe worked for newspapers in Pennsylvania, New York, and the Midwest, and he became known not only as a reporter and editor but also as a remarkably versatile writer. He produced adventure stories, detective fiction, and historical writing, and he published under a number of pen names as well as his own. His fiction appeared during the great age of inexpensive popular literature, which helped bring his stories to a wide audience.
He later settled in Illinois, where he remained active in newspaper work and local historical writing. Rolfe died on April 15, 1925. Today he is remembered as one of those energetic 19th-century authors whose career bridged daily journalism and mass-market storytelling.