author
William Farquhar Payson
1876–1939
An American novelist and editor from New York, he wrote across genres, from historical adventure to social fiction, and left behind a varied early-20th-century body of work. His books include John Vytal: A Tale of the Lost Colony, Periwinkle, and Give Me Tomorrow.
1 Audiobook
John Vytal: A Tale of the Lost Colony
by William Farquhar Payson
About the author
Born in New York City on February 18, 1876, William Farquhar Payson was an American author and editor. Reliable reference sources consistently identify him as a writer with a long publishing career that stretched from the late 1890s into the 1930s.
His bibliography shows a wide range of interests. Works associated with him include The Copy-Maker, The Title-Mongers, John Vytal: A Tale of the Lost Colony, Debonnaire, The Triumph of Life, Periwinkle, Barry Gordon, and Give Me Tomorrow. Reference listings and later commentary also note his connection to speculative fiction through John Vytal.
Payson died on April 15, 1939. While biographical detail about his personal life is fairly limited in the sources easily available online, the record of his books shows a productive writer whose fiction moved between romance, adventure, historical themes, and contemporary life.