Raymond MacDonald Alden

Born in New Hartford, New York, in 1873, he was the son of writer Isabella Macdonald Alden, known to many readers as Pansy. He studied at Rollins College and the University of Pennsylvania, with additional study at Harvard, building the strong literary background that shaped both his teaching and his writing.

His academic career took him from Columbian University and Harvard to the University of Pennsylvania, Stanford University, and eventually the University of Illinois, where he became chair of English. Along the way he edited works by Shakespeare and other Elizabethan dramatists, prepared an edition of Thoreau's Walden, and wrote books such as An Introduction to Poetry.

He also wrote fiction, including children's stories that outlasted much of his scholarly work in popular memory. His 1905 story "In the Promised Land" won third prize in a Collier's Weekly contest, and Why the Chimes Rang became his most widely remembered book, cherished for its gentle, old-fashioned Christmas spirit. He died in Philadelphia in 1924.