Saki

Born Hector Hugh Munro in Akyab, Burma (now Sittwe, Myanmar), he wrote under the pen name Saki and became one of the great short-story writers of the Edwardian period. Reliable reference sources describe him as a journalist and fiction writer whose work skewered social pretension, unkindness, and stupidity with brilliant economy and dark humor.

Much of his reputation rests on short stories in which well-bred settings are disrupted by mischievous children, clever animals, or one perfectly timed line of cruelty. The comedy is light on the surface but often edged with something stranger or harsher, which gives stories such as "Tobermory" and many others their lasting bite.

His life ended abruptly in World War I: he died in France in November 1916 while serving in the British Army. That early death helped leave his body of work compact, but it has endured because the voice is so distinctive—playful, elegant, and just a little dangerous.