Harold Bell Wright
Encyclopedia
Harold Bell Wright was a best-selling American writer of fiction, essays, and non-fiction during the first half of the 20th century. Although mostly forgotten or ignored after the middle of the 20th century, he is said to have been the first American writer to sell a million copies of a novel and the first to make $1 million from writing fiction. Between 1902 and 1942 Wright wrote 19 books, several stage plays, and many magazine articles. More than twenty one movies were made or claimed to be made from Wright's stories, including Gary Cooper
's first major movie, The Winning of Barbara Worth
(1926) and the John Wayne
film, The Shepherd of the Hills
(1941).
to William A. and Alma Watson Wright. In his autobiography, To My Sons, Wright reports that his father, a former Civil War lieutenant and lifetime alcoholic, dragged "his wife and children from place to place, existing from hand to mouth, sinking deeper and deeper, as the years passed, into the slough of wretched poverty." His mother, on the other hand, paid close attention to the children, taught them moral principles and read to them from the Bible, Shakespeare, The Pilgrim's Progress and Hiawatha. From his mother Wright learned to appreciate the beauties of nature. When a neighbor taught young Wright to draw and paint, his mother nourished his artistic talents.
When Wright was eleven years old his mother died and his father abandoned the children. For the remainder of his childhood Wright lived with various relatives or strangers, mostly in Ohio. He found odd jobs here and there, frequently sleeping under bridges or in haystacks. In his late teens he found regular employment painting both works of art and houses. After two years of what Wright called "pre-preparation" education at Hiram College
in Hiram, Ohio
, Wright became a minister for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Pierce City, Missouri
. Other churches he pastored were located in Pittsburg, Kansas
; Forest Avenue in Kansas City, Missouri
; Lebanon, Missouri
; and Redlands, California
.
, he wrote a melodramatic story, entitled That Printer of Udell's
, which he intended to read to his congregation, one chapter per week, at successive Sunday night meetings. But before he read it to his congregation, the story was published in serial form in The Christian Century, his denomination's official journal. Wright despised the magazine version so much that he "hid the poor mutilated corpse in the bottom of the least used drawer of my desk and moved on to other things" (To My Sons, P. 213). But Parishioners enjoyed the story so much that they encouraged him to publish it in book form, which he did. But it was Wright's second novel, The Shepherd of the Hills
, published in 1907 and set in Branson, Missouri
, that established him as a best-selling author. That book also attracted a growing stream of tourists to the little-known town of Branson, resulting in its becoming a major tourist destination.
In 1907, after the success of The Shepherd of the Hills (his first book to sell one million copies), Wright resigned as pastor of the Redlands, California, Christian Church, moved to a ranch near El Centro, California
, and devoted the rest of his life to writing popular stories. In 1911, he published his most popular book, The Winning of Barbara Worth, a historical novel set in the Imperial Valley of southeastern California.
and impractical nature of popular churches. To Wright, hard work, integrity and concrete efforts to aid people in need were far more important than church doctrines or sermons.
In 1905 Wright accepted the position of pastor at the Christian Church in Lebanon, Missouri. Wright remained there until 1907 when he accepted another pastoral position in California.
In 1909, pastors across America were incensed by his third book, The Calling of Dan Matthews, which told the story of a young preacher who, like Wright, resigned from the ministry in order to retain his integrity. The story included the town of Corinth, which was obviously that of Lebanon, Missouri. Several townspeople from Lebanon were highly disappointed in the novel and called it disgraceful. In 1910 Alexander Corkey wrote a novel that countered Wright's message. In The Victory of Allen Rutledge: A Tale of the Middle West, another young pastor in another midwestern town, faces moral challenges similar to those faced by Wright's hero. But in Corkey's book the pastor takes a courageous stand for principle, reforms the church and remains in the ministry. Though Wright's book quickly sold a million copies, Corkey's remained largely unknown.
Wright never responded to his critics, except to say that he never intended to create great literature, only to minister to ordinary people.
. Wright's land on Tucson's east side became the Harold Bell Wright Estates subdivision and the streets bear names of some of his fictional characters and book titles such as Printer Udell, Barbara Worth, Shepherd Hills, Brian Kent, and Marta Hillgrove. A small city park in the neighborhood is named for him. His home has been restored and is now a private residence.
From 1935 until his death in 1944, Wright lived on his "Quiet Hills Farm" near Escondido, California
. But whatever city he called home, he traveled much, staying for months at a time in primitive camps, vacation homes, hotels or resorts, in such places as Riverside
, San Diego, Palm Springs
and Benbow
, California, Tucson
and Prescott, Arizona
, Hawaii
, and the Barbados
. Wright usually lived one or two years in a location before using it as the setting for one of his novels.
After struggling most of his life with lung disease, Wright died of bronchial pneumonia
in Scripps
Memorial Hospital in La Jolla, California. He was buried in the Cathedral Mausoleum, in Greenwood Memorial Park
, in San Diego.
developed a system to compare top selling books from 1665 (Golden Multitudes, the Story of Bestsellers in the United States). To make comparisons possible, Mott defines a bestseller as a book with sales equal to one percent of the US population.
His ranking:
Scott and Dickens were not American authors, and Gardner came much later than Wright. By Mott's reckoning Harold Bell Wright was one of only three American authors to write five best sellers from the arrival of the pilgrims in America through the first quarter of the 20th century. And Wright's total book sales were higher than Cooper and Porter. No American beat, or quite matched, Harold Bell Wright's record until Erle Stanley Gardner, whose career peaked 30 years after Wright's.
Owen Wister
’s comments are representative: “I doubt if the present hour furnishes any happier symbols [of the quack novel] than we have in Mr. Wright [and The Eyes of the World]. It gathers into its four hundred and sixty pages all the elements ...of the quack-novel. It is,” Wister says, “stale, distorted, a sham, a puddle of words,” and “a mess of mildewed pap.” It was also number one on the Publisher's Weekly bestseller list for 1914. In 1946, Irvin Harlow Hart wrote, "Harold Bell Wright supplied more negative data on the literary quality of the taste of the fiction reading public than any other author. No critic has ever damned Wright with even the faintest praise." (Hundred Leading Authors, p. 287)
Gary Cooper
Frank James Cooper, known professionally as Gary Cooper, was an American film actor. He was renowned for his quiet, understated acting style and his stoic, but at times intense screen persona, which was particularly well suited to the many Westerns he made...
's first major movie, The Winning of Barbara Worth
The Winning of Barbara Worth
The Winning of Barbara Worth is a silent western film, released by United Artists in 1926, and starring Ronald Colman, Vilma Bánky, and Gary Cooper . The film is based on the novel of the same name by Harold Bell Wright and was filmed in the Black Rock Desert, Nevada...
(1926) and the John Wayne
John Wayne
Marion Mitchell Morrison , better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height...
film, The Shepherd of the Hills
The Shepherd of the Hills (film)
The Shepherd of the Hills is a 1941 film starring John Wayne. It was Wayne's first film in Technicolor. The film was based on the novel of the same name by Harold Bell Wright.-Differences from the novel:...
(1941).
Early life
Wright was born in Rome, Oneida County, New YorkRome, New York
Rome is a city in Oneida County, New York, United States. It is located in north-central or "upstate" New York. The population was 44,797 at the 2010 census. It is in New York's 24th congressional district. In 1758, British forces began construction of Fort Stanwix at this strategic location, but...
to William A. and Alma Watson Wright. In his autobiography, To My Sons, Wright reports that his father, a former Civil War lieutenant and lifetime alcoholic, dragged "his wife and children from place to place, existing from hand to mouth, sinking deeper and deeper, as the years passed, into the slough of wretched poverty." His mother, on the other hand, paid close attention to the children, taught them moral principles and read to them from the Bible, Shakespeare, The Pilgrim's Progress and Hiawatha. From his mother Wright learned to appreciate the beauties of nature. When a neighbor taught young Wright to draw and paint, his mother nourished his artistic talents.
When Wright was eleven years old his mother died and his father abandoned the children. For the remainder of his childhood Wright lived with various relatives or strangers, mostly in Ohio. He found odd jobs here and there, frequently sleeping under bridges or in haystacks. In his late teens he found regular employment painting both works of art and houses. After two years of what Wright called "pre-preparation" education at Hiram College
Hiram College
Hiram College is a private liberal arts college located in Hiram, Ohio. Founded by Amos Sutton Hayden of the Disciples of Christ Church in 1850, the institution has, since its first days, been nonsectarian and coeducational, and throughout its existence Hiram College has sustained this egalitarian...
in Hiram, Ohio
Hiram, Ohio
Hiram is a village in Portage County, Ohio, United States. It was formed from portions of Hiram Township in the Connecticut Western Reserve. The population was 1,242 at the 2000 census...
, Wright became a minister for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Pierce City, Missouri
Pierce City, Missouri
Pierce City is a city in Lawrence County, Missouri, United States. The population was 1,385 at the 2000 census. In 2010, the town annexed down Missouri Route 97 into Barry County to a point just north of US Route 60.-Geography:...
. Other churches he pastored were located in Pittsburg, Kansas
Pittsburg, Kansas
Pittsburg is a city in Crawford County, in southeastern Kansas, United States. It is the most populous city in Crawford County and in southeastern Kansas. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 20,233.-History:...
; Forest Avenue in Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
; Lebanon, Missouri
Lebanon, Missouri
Lebanon is a city in Laclede County, Missouri, United States. The estimated population in July 2009 was 14,292. The population was 12,155 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Laclede County. The Lebanon Micropolitan Statistical Area consists of Laclede County.-Geography:Lebanon is located at...
; and Redlands, California
Redlands, California
Redlands is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 68,747, up from 63,591 at the 2000 census. The city is located east of downtown San Bernardino.- History :...
.
Writing and preaching career
In 1902, while pastoring the Christian Church in Pittsburg, KansasPittsburg, Kansas
Pittsburg is a city in Crawford County, in southeastern Kansas, United States. It is the most populous city in Crawford County and in southeastern Kansas. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 20,233.-History:...
, he wrote a melodramatic story, entitled That Printer of Udell's
That Printer of Udell's
That Printer of Udell's is a 1903 work of fiction by Harold Bell Wright.Wright, who served as a minister before becoming a writer, created a story with Christian themes. In the story, Dick Falkner, who comes from a broken home, sees his father under the influence of alcohol and his mother starving...
, which he intended to read to his congregation, one chapter per week, at successive Sunday night meetings. But before he read it to his congregation, the story was published in serial form in The Christian Century, his denomination's official journal. Wright despised the magazine version so much that he "hid the poor mutilated corpse in the bottom of the least used drawer of my desk and moved on to other things" (To My Sons, P. 213). But Parishioners enjoyed the story so much that they encouraged him to publish it in book form, which he did. But it was Wright's second novel, The Shepherd of the Hills
The Shepherd of the Hills
The Shepherd of the Hills is a book written in 1907 by author Harold Bell Wright. It depicts a mostly fictional story of mountain folklore and has been translated into seven languages since its release. It is also depicted in a popular outdoor play numerous times each week from May to October, in...
, published in 1907 and set in Branson, Missouri
Branson, Missouri
Branson is a city in Taney County in the U.S. state of Missouri. It was named after Reuben Branson, postmaster and operator of a general store in the area in the 1880s....
, that established him as a best-selling author. That book also attracted a growing stream of tourists to the little-known town of Branson, resulting in its becoming a major tourist destination.
In 1907, after the success of The Shepherd of the Hills (his first book to sell one million copies), Wright resigned as pastor of the Redlands, California, Christian Church, moved to a ranch near El Centro, California
El Centro, California
El Centro is a city in and county seat of Imperial County, the largest city in the Imperial Valley and the east anchor of the Southern California Border Region, and the core urban area and principal city of the El Centro metropolitan area which encompasses all of Imperial County. El Centro is also...
, and devoted the rest of his life to writing popular stories. In 1911, he published his most popular book, The Winning of Barbara Worth, a historical novel set in the Imperial Valley of southeastern California.
Themes and later work
Wright did not leave the ministry only because he could make more money writing fiction. In most of his novels, beginning with That Printer of Udell's, he attacked the hypocrisyHypocrisy
Hypocrisy is the state of pretending to have virtues, moral or religious beliefs, principles, etc., that one does not actually have. Hypocrisy involves the deception of others and is thus a kind of lie....
and impractical nature of popular churches. To Wright, hard work, integrity and concrete efforts to aid people in need were far more important than church doctrines or sermons.
In 1905 Wright accepted the position of pastor at the Christian Church in Lebanon, Missouri. Wright remained there until 1907 when he accepted another pastoral position in California.
In 1909, pastors across America were incensed by his third book, The Calling of Dan Matthews, which told the story of a young preacher who, like Wright, resigned from the ministry in order to retain his integrity. The story included the town of Corinth, which was obviously that of Lebanon, Missouri. Several townspeople from Lebanon were highly disappointed in the novel and called it disgraceful. In 1910 Alexander Corkey wrote a novel that countered Wright's message. In The Victory of Allen Rutledge: A Tale of the Middle West, another young pastor in another midwestern town, faces moral challenges similar to those faced by Wright's hero. But in Corkey's book the pastor takes a courageous stand for principle, reforms the church and remains in the ministry. Though Wright's book quickly sold a million copies, Corkey's remained largely unknown.
Wright never responded to his critics, except to say that he never intended to create great literature, only to minister to ordinary people.
Personal life
Harold Bell Wright was married to Frances Long-Wright and had three children from this marriage. He divorced her in December 1917.Later life
From 1912 to about 1935 Wright lived mostly in Tucson, ArizonaTucson, Arizona
Tucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States. The city is located 118 miles southeast of Phoenix and 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The 2010 United States Census puts the city's population at 520,116 with a metropolitan area population at 1,020,200...
. Wright's land on Tucson's east side became the Harold Bell Wright Estates subdivision and the streets bear names of some of his fictional characters and book titles such as Printer Udell, Barbara Worth, Shepherd Hills, Brian Kent, and Marta Hillgrove. A small city park in the neighborhood is named for him. His home has been restored and is now a private residence.
From 1935 until his death in 1944, Wright lived on his "Quiet Hills Farm" near Escondido, California
Escondido, California
Escondido is a city occupying a shallow valley ringed by rocky hills, just north of the city of San Diego, California. Founded in 1888, it is one of the oldest cities in San Diego County. The city had a population of 143,911 at the 2010 census. Its municipal government set itself an operating...
. But whatever city he called home, he traveled much, staying for months at a time in primitive camps, vacation homes, hotels or resorts, in such places as Riverside
Riverside, California
Riverside is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, and the county seat of the eponymous county. Named for its location beside the Santa Ana River, it is the largest city in the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario metropolitan area of Southern California, 4th largest inland California...
, San Diego, Palm Springs
Palm Springs, California
Palm Springs is a desert city in Riverside County, California, within the Coachella Valley. It is located approximately 37 miles east of San Bernardino, 111 miles east of Los Angeles and 136 miles northeast of San Diego...
and Benbow
Benbow Lake State Recreation Area
Benbow Lake State Recreation Area is a state park unit of California, USA, established around a reservoir on the South Fork Eel River. It is located in Humboldt County south of Garberville on U.S. Route 101....
, California, Tucson
Tucson, Arizona
Tucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States. The city is located 118 miles southeast of Phoenix and 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The 2010 United States Census puts the city's population at 520,116 with a metropolitan area population at 1,020,200...
and Prescott, Arizona
Prescott, Arizona
Prescott is a city in Yavapai County, Arizona, USA. It was designated "Arizona's Christmas City" by Arizona Governor Rose Mofford in the late 1980s....
, Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
, and the Barbados
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...
. Wright usually lived one or two years in a location before using it as the setting for one of his novels.
After struggling most of his life with lung disease, Wright died of bronchial pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
in Scripps
Ellen Browning Scripps
Ellen Browning Scripps was an American philanthropist who was the founding donor of several major institutions in Southern California.-Biography:...
Memorial Hospital in La Jolla, California. He was buried in the Cathedral Mausoleum, in Greenwood Memorial Park
Greenwood Memorial Park (San Diego)
Greenwood Memorial Park is a cemetery located on county-owned land at 4300 Imperial Avenue in San Diego County, California. The cemetery is adjacent to Mount Hope Cemetery.Opened in 1908, Greenwood covers approximately five miles east of Downtown San Diego...
, in San Diego.
Book sales compared to other authors
In 1945 Frank Luther MottFrank Luther Mott
Frank Luther Mott was an American historian and journalist of Quaker descent.Mott was born in Rose Hill, Iowa...
developed a system to compare top selling books from 1665 (Golden Multitudes, the Story of Bestsellers in the United States). To make comparisons possible, Mott defines a bestseller as a book with sales equal to one percent of the US population.
His ranking:
- Charles DickensCharles DickensCharles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
, 16 bestsellers; - Erle Stanley GardnerErle Stanley GardnerErle Stanley Gardner was an American lawyer and author of detective stories, best known for the Perry Mason series, he also published under the pseudonyms A.A. Fair, Kyle Corning, Charles M. Green, Carleton Kendrake, Charles J...
, seven; - Walter ScottWalter ScottSir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet was a Scottish historical novelist, playwright, and poet, popular throughout much of the world during his time....
, six; and - James Fenimore CooperJames Fenimore CooperJames Fenimore Cooper was a prolific and popular American writer of the early 19th century. He is best remembered as a novelist who wrote numerous sea-stories and the historical novels known as the Leatherstocking Tales, featuring frontiersman Natty Bumppo...
, Gene Stratton Porter, and Harold Bell Wright, five each.
Scott and Dickens were not American authors, and Gardner came much later than Wright. By Mott's reckoning Harold Bell Wright was one of only three American authors to write five best sellers from the arrival of the pilgrims in America through the first quarter of the 20th century. And Wright's total book sales were higher than Cooper and Porter. No American beat, or quite matched, Harold Bell Wright's record until Erle Stanley Gardner, whose career peaked 30 years after Wright's.
Literary criticism
Wright's biographer, Lawrence V. Tagg (Harold Bell Wright: Storyteller to America, Westernlore Press, 1986), gathered a collection of contemporary attacks on Wright.Owen Wister
Owen Wister
Owen Wister was an American writer and "father" of western fiction.-Early life:Owen Wister was born on July 14, 1860, in Germantown, a well-known neighborhood in the northwestern part of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His father, Owen Jones Wister, was a wealthy physician, one of a long line of...
’s comments are representative: “I doubt if the present hour furnishes any happier symbols [of the quack novel] than we have in Mr. Wright [and The Eyes of the World]. It gathers into its four hundred and sixty pages all the elements ...of the quack-novel. It is,” Wister says, “stale, distorted, a sham, a puddle of words,” and “a mess of mildewed pap.” It was also number one on the Publisher's Weekly bestseller list for 1914. In 1946, Irvin Harlow Hart wrote, "Harold Bell Wright supplied more negative data on the literary quality of the taste of the fiction reading public than any other author. No critic has ever damned Wright with even the faintest praise." (Hundred Leading Authors, p. 287)
Published works
- That Printer of Udell'sThat Printer of Udell'sThat Printer of Udell's is a 1903 work of fiction by Harold Bell Wright.Wright, who served as a minister before becoming a writer, created a story with Christian themes. In the story, Dick Falkner, who comes from a broken home, sees his father under the influence of alcohol and his mother starving...
Book Supply Company, 1902–03 - The Shepherd of the HillsThe Shepherd of the HillsThe Shepherd of the Hills is a book written in 1907 by author Harold Bell Wright. It depicts a mostly fictional story of mountain folklore and has been translated into seven languages since its release. It is also depicted in a popular outdoor play numerous times each week from May to October, in...
Book Supply Company, 1907 - The Calling of Dan Matthews Book Supply Company, 1909
- The Uncrowned King Book Supply Company, 1910
- The Winning of Barbara Worth Book Supply Company, 1911
- Their Yesterdays Book Supply Company, 1912
- The Eyes of the World Book Supply Company, 1914
- When a Man's a Man Book Supply Company, 1916
- The Re-Creation of Brian Kent Book Supply Company, 1919
- Helen of the Old House D. Appleton and Company, 1921
- The Mine with the Iron Door D. Appleton and Company, 1923
- A Son of His Father D. Appleton and Company, 1925
- God and the Groceryman D. Appleton and Company, 1927
- Long Ago Told: Legends of the Papago Indians D. Appleton and Company, 1929
- Exit D. Appleton and Company, 1930
- The Devil's Highway D. Appleton and Company, 1932
- Ma Cinderella Harper and Brothers, 1932
- To My Sons Harper and Brothers, 1934
- The Man Who Went Away Harper and Brothers, 1942
External links
- Biography and detailed book descriptions
- Biography
- Harold Bell Wright Museum in Pierce City, Missouri
- Copyrighted Translations of the original Legends of the Tohono O'odham used in Long Ago Told
- 2 short radio scripts from California Legacy ProjectCalifornia Legacy ProjectThe California Legacy Project began in 2000 as a project at Santa Clara University in Santa Clara, CA and later partnered with Heyday Books in Berkeley, CA. The project uses a research team of SCU interns to create radio scripts for the radio anthology "Your California Legacy" on KAZU 90.3 FM,...
. - http://www.hbw.addr.com/