author
1869–1915
Best known for giving dogs a witty inner life, this English humorist and former solicitor wrote light, satirical books that still feel playful today. His most famous title, A Dog Day, helped make him a memorable comic voice of the early 1900s.
Walter Emanuel (1869–1915), also known as Walter Lewis Emanuel, was an English humorist, satirist, and trained solicitor. Born in Paddington, London, he studied at University College School and at Heidelberg before qualifying for legal work, but he later turned from law to writing.
He became known for comic journalism and for contributing to magazines including Punch, where he wrote the long-running "Charivaria" column. His books often mixed sharp social observation with playful fantasy, and he had a particular gift for writing animal characters with very human feelings and opinions.
Among his best-known works are A Dog Day (1902), The Snob (1904), The Dog World and Anti-Cat Review (1909), and the speculative satire One Hundred Years Hence (1911). He also appears in science-fiction reference works because of that futuristic satire, though his reputation mainly rests on his light, funny prose.