William Alexander Taylor

Born in Ohio in 1837, William Alexander Taylor trained in law but built much of his career around writing and journalism. Historical accounts describe him as a lawyer, editor, politician, and author, a mix that helps explain the wide range of subjects he took on.

Taylor wrote on public life and regional history as well as fiction. His books include Ohio in Congress from 1803 to 1901, The Biographical Annals of Ohio, and Eighteen Presidents and Contemporaneous Rulers. He also published Intermere in 1901, a utopian novel about a survivor who discovers a hidden civilization with its own striking ideas about technology, government, and social order.

That blend of practical politics and speculative imagination gives his work a distinctive flavor. Even when he turned to fiction, he seemed interested in how societies are organized and how people might live differently, which makes Intermere an especially interesting read today.