author
Richard Washburn Child
1881–1935
A novelist, magazine editor, and diplomat, he moved easily between American letters and international politics. He is remembered both for popular fiction and for a public career that took him to Rome as U.S. ambassador to Italy.
1 Audiobook
The blue wall : A story of strangeness and struggle
by Richard Washburn Child
About the author
Born in Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1881, Richard Washburn Child built a varied career as a writer, editor, lawyer, and public figure. He wrote novels, short fiction, and essays, and he became known to a wide audience through magazine work as well as books.
His public life was just as notable. Child served as United States ambassador to Italy from 1921 to 1924, a role that placed him close to major events in interwar Europe. Accounts of his career also note that he became a prominent American supporter of Italian Fascism, which remains an important and troubling part of how he is remembered.
He died in New York in 1935. Today, his life stands out for the unusual mix of literary success, journalism, and diplomacy that shaped his work and reputation.