Richard Michaelis

Richard C. Michaelis (1839–1909) was a German-American journalist, editor, and novelist. Modern library and research records identify him as the author of Looking Further Forward, a response to the ideas popularized by Edward Bellamy’s Looking Backward.

That book appeared around 1890–1891 and places Michaelis among the writers who used fiction to argue about politics, economics, and the future of society. Rather than writing pure fantasy, he seems to have used the novel as a way to join a lively public conversation about reform and social change.

Reliable biographical details about his personal life are limited in the sources readily available online, so much of his lasting reputation rests on that one notable work and on his career in journalism and editing.