Marvin Dana

Born in Cornwall, Vermont, on March 2, 1867, Marvin Hill Dana studied at Middlebury College and Albany Law School before taking an unexpected turn into the Episcopal ministry. After serving churches in New York, he left the clergy and built a varied literary career that also included work as a journalist and magazine editor.

Dana wrote for the New York Herald, edited The Hungarian-American, and later worked in London as editor of the satirical magazine Judy. Back in New York, he became an assistant editor and then editor of The Smart Set. His writing was wide-ranging: alongside novels such as The Woman of Orchids, A Puritan Witch, The Lake Mystery, and The Mystery of the Third Parrot, he also published books on memory, grammar, shorthand, arithmetic, law, military pyrotechnics, and etiquette.

That mix of storytelling and practical instruction gives his work an unusual character. He could write popular fiction, adapt dramatic material for prose, and just as comfortably produce straightforward self-improvement and reference books. Dana died in New York City on April 3, 1926.