author
Sidney Dickinson
1851–1919
An American-born journalist, critic, and lecturer, he became a lively champion of Australian art before turning his sharp observer’s eye to strange and supposedly supernatural experiences. His best-known book, published after his death, blends curiosity, storytelling, and a reporter’s habit of taking careful notes.
1 Audiobook
True Tales of the Weird: a record of personal experiences of the supernatural
by Sidney Dickinson
About the author
Born in West Springfield, Massachusetts, on March 27, 1851, Sidney Dickinson was an art critic and journalist with a strong academic background; the Australian Dictionary of Biography notes that he held a Master of Arts degree. After graduating from Amherst in 1874, he worked on newspapers including the Springfield Republican and the San Francisco Bulletin, and later became an art and dramatic critic for the Boston Journal.
Dickinson is especially remembered in Australian art history. According to the Australian Dictionary of Biography, he traveled to Australia in the late 1880s, wrote influential criticism there, and helped popularize the painters later associated with the Heidelberg School. He was also known as a public lecturer, using illustrated talks to entertain and inform audiences.
His book True Tales of the Weird: A Record of Personal Experiences of the Supernatural appeared in 1920, after his death on February 7, 1919, in Oberlin, Ohio. Introductions to the book describe it as the fulfillment of a project cut short by his death, built from notes he had carefully kept. That mix of journalism, performance, and fascination with the unexplained gives his writing its distinctive character.