author

Michael J. Phillips

1876–1932

Remembered for vivid Western adventure and period nonfiction, this early 20th-century writer also left behind a lively account of young Mark Twain in the mining West. His work ranges from frontier fiction to local California history, giving it a broad, old-American feel.

1 Audiobook

Gun play

Gun play

by Michael J. Phillips

About the author

Michael J. Phillips was an American author active in the early 20th century. Available sources identify him as Michael James Phillips, and library and reference records connect him with works including In Our Country's Service (1909), the Saturday Evening Post piece Mark Twain's Partner (1920), and the two-volume History of Santa Barbara County, California (1927).

Reference sources do not agree on every biographical detail. One source gives his birth as November 8, 1879, in Owosso, Michigan, while other catalog-style records associate him with the dates 1876–1932, so the exact birth year should be treated with caution.

What does come through clearly is the range of his writing. He appears to have moved comfortably between military or patriotic writing, frontier and speculative adventure, magazine nonfiction, and regional history. That mix makes him an interesting rediscovery for listeners who enjoy older American storytelling with both documentary detail and a strong sense of place.