Henry Sydnor Harrison(1880-1930)
- Writer
American novelist Henry Sydnor Harrison was born in 1880 in Sewanee, Tennessee. His father, a doctor, was also professor of Greek and Latin at the University of the South. In 1885 the family moved to Brooklyn, NY, where Dr. Harrison had established his own private school, The Brooklyn Latin School. Henry graduated from New York's Columbia University in 1900, where he was the editor of the school newspaper and took part in productions of the Columbia Dramatic Society.
In 1902 Dr. Harrison died and the family moved to Richmond, VA. Henry took a job as a newspaper reporter, but hated it. He left that position soon afterwards and moved to Charleston, WV, where he basically holed up for six months and wrote a novel, "Queed", which was published in 1911. It sold quite well, as did its follow-up novel, "V.V.'s Eyes"; together the two sold over 400,000 copies. Soon Harrison found that editors and publishers were demanding that he publish his short stories--all of which had been roundly rejected when he first submitted them--and he did. Although his work was not met with particular critical enthusiasm--H.L. Mencken called Harrison "a merchant of mush"--they were popular with the reading public.
In 1930 Harrison went into a hospital in Atlantic City, NJ, to have an operation, and died four days later. He never married.
In 1902 Dr. Harrison died and the family moved to Richmond, VA. Henry took a job as a newspaper reporter, but hated it. He left that position soon afterwards and moved to Charleston, WV, where he basically holed up for six months and wrote a novel, "Queed", which was published in 1911. It sold quite well, as did its follow-up novel, "V.V.'s Eyes"; together the two sold over 400,000 copies. Soon Harrison found that editors and publishers were demanding that he publish his short stories--all of which had been roundly rejected when he first submitted them--and he did. Although his work was not met with particular critical enthusiasm--H.L. Mencken called Harrison "a merchant of mush"--they were popular with the reading public.
In 1930 Harrison went into a hospital in Atlantic City, NJ, to have an operation, and died four days later. He never married.