Richard Savage

Richard Henry Savage was an American author, military officer, and trained engineer who was born in Utica, New York, on June 12, 1846, and died in New York on October 11, 1903. He studied at West Point and went on to build a remarkably varied career that also included work in law and public service.

He is best remembered for writing more than 40 novels, many of them adventure and mystery stories loosely shaped by his own experiences. His fiction was designed to entertain: brisk plots, international settings, and a strong taste for suspense made titles such as My Official Wife and A Daughter of Judas popular with readers of his day.

What still makes him interesting is the life behind the books. Soldier, traveler, and prolific storyteller, he brought a sense of action and worldly experience to his fiction, and some accounts even suggest that his colorful career may have helped inspire the later pulp hero Doc Savage.