William Benjamin Basil King (1859–1928) was a Canadian clergyman who became a writer after retiring from the clergy. His novels and non-fiction were spiritually oriented.

Life and career

He was born on February 26, 1859, in

Charlottetown Charlottetown is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island, and the county seat of Queens County. Named after Queen Charlotte, Charlottetown was an unincorporated town until it was incorporated as a city in ...

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island (PEI; ) is one of the thirteen Provinces and territories of Canada, provinces and territories of Canada. It is the smallest province in terms of land area and population, but the most densely populated. The island has seve ...

. He was graduated from the

University of King's College The University of King's College, established in 1789, is in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.Roper, Henry. "Aspects of the History of a Loyalist College: King's College, Windsor, and Nova Scotian Higher Education in the Nineteenth Century." Anglic ...

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

, and served as an

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

rector at St. Luke's Pro-Cathedral in

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348,634 people in its urban area. The ...

, and later at Christ Church in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

. King began writing in 1900 after he was forced to retire from the clergy due to loss of eyesight and

thyroid disease Thyroid disease is a medical condition that affects the function of the thyroid gland. The thyroid gland is located at the front of the neck and produces thyroid hormones that travel through the blood to help regulate many other organs, meaning t ...

. His anonymously published novel ''

The Inner Shrine ''The Inner Shrine'' is a 1917 silent produced by Jesse Lasky and distributed by Paramount Pictures. It is the first of only two films that starred Margaret Illington, a noted Broadway actress. The story is from a 1909 novel, The Inner Shrine', by ...

'', about a French Irish girl whose husband is killed in a duel, became very popular when published in 1909. King subsequently published a number of best-selling works. King's spiritual orientation increased later in his life. His ''The Abolishing of Death'' (1919) described the transmission of messages from a deceased chemist. ''The Conquest of Fear'' (1921) portrayed his own struggle with ill health and eventual spiritual growth, and lays out his somewhat

mystical Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight in u ...

approach to religious understanding. Critics often faulted King's fiction for its sentimentality and didacticism. He died in Cambridge, Massachusetts on June 22, 1928.

Quotes

"Go at it boldly, and you'll find unexpected forces closing round you and coming to your aid." sometimes cited as "Be bold and mighty forces will come to your aid."

Selected works

* ''Griselda'' (1900)J. Ernest Kerr, ''Imprint of the Maritimes'', 1959, Boston: Christopher Publishing, p. 118 * ''Let Not Man Put Asunder'' (1902) * ''The Giant's Strength'' (1907) * ''

'' (1909) * ''The Wild Olive'' (1910) * ''The Street Called Straight'' (1912) * ''The Way Home'' (1913) * ''The Letter of the Contract'' (1914) * ''The Side of the Angels'' (1916) * ''The High Heart'' (1917) * ''The Lifted Veil'' (1917) * ''Abraham's Bosom'' (1918) * ''The Abolishing of Death'' (1919) * ''The City of Comrades'' (1919) * ''Going West'' (1919) * ''The Thread of Flame'' (1920) * ''The Conquest of Fear'' (1921) * ''The Dust Flower'' (1922) * ''The Discovery of God'' (1923) * ''The Happy Isles'' (1923) * ''The Bible and Common Sense'' (1924) * ''The Spreading Dawn: Stories of the Great Transition'' (1927). The collection contains six short stories: ** ''The Spreading Dawn'' (first appeared as short story in ''

Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely c ...

'', 1916) ** ''The Ghost's Story'' (first appeared as short story in ''The Red Book Magazine'', 1918) ** ''Heaven'' (first appeared as short story in ''Cosmopolitan'', 1924) ** ''Abraham's Bosom'' (first appeared as short story in ''Saturday Evening Post'', 1918) ** ''Going West'' (first appeared as short story in ''Pictorial Review'', 1918) ** ''The Last Enemy''

Filmography

*''

The Wild Olive ''The Wild Olive'' is a lost 1915 American drama silent film directed by Oscar Apfel and written by Elmer Blaney Harris, Basil King and Oliver Morosco. The film stars Myrtle Stedman, Forrest Stanley, Mary Ruby, Charles Marriott, Edmund Lowe and H ...

'', directed by

Oscar Apfel Oscar C. Apfel (January 17, 1878 – March 21, 1938) was an American film actor, director, screenwriter and producer. He appeared in more than 160 films between 1913 and 1939, and also directed 94 films between 1911 and 1927. Biography Apf ...

(1915, based on the novel ''The Wild Olive'') *''

'', directed by

Frank Reicher Frank Reicher (born Franz Reicher; December 2, 1875 – January 19, 1965) was a German-born American actor, director and producer. He is best known for playing Captain Englehorn in the 1933 film ''King Kong''. Early life Reicher was born in Mu ...

(1917, based on the novel ''The Inner Shrine'') *'' The Lifted Veil'', directed by

George D. Baker George Duane Baker (April 22, 1868 – June 2, 1933) was an American motion picture director whose career began near the dawn of the silent film era. Early life He was born at Champaign, Illinois on April 22, 1868. He was the second son and third ...

(1917, based on the novel ''The Lifted Veil'') *''

The Spreading Dawn ''The Spreading Dawn'' is a 1917 American silent drama film produced by Samuel Goldwyn in his first year of producing independently in his own studio and starring Broadway stage star Jane Cowl in her second and final silent film. It was directed b ...

'', directed by

Laurence Trimble Laurence Norwood Trimble (February 15, 1885 – February 8, 1954) was an American silent film film director, director, screenwriter, writer and actor. Trimble began his film career directing Jean (dog), Jean, the Vitagraph Dog, the first canine ...

(1917, based on the short story ''The Spreading Dawn'') *''

The City of Comrades ''The City of Comrades'' is a lost film, lost 1919 American silent film, silent drama film directed by Harry Beaumont with Tom Moore (actor), Tom Moore and Seena Owen in the leads. It was produced by Sam Goldwyn and released by Goldwyn Pictures. ...

'', directed by

Harry Beaumont Harry Beaumont (10 February 1888 – 22 December 1966) was an American film director, actor, and screenwriter. He worked for a variety of production companies including 20th Century Fox, Fox, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation, Goldwyn, Metro Picture ...

(1919, based on the novel ''The City of Comrades'') *', directed by

Wallace Worsley Wallace A. Worsley, Sr. (December 8, 1878 – March 26, 1944) was an American stage actor who became a film director in the silent era. During his career, Worsley directed 29 films and acted in 7 films. He directed several motion pictures sta ...

(1920, based on the novel ''The Street Called Straight'') *''

Earthbound ''EarthBound'', released in Japan as is a role-playing video game developed by Creatures (company), Ape Inc. and HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The second entry in the Mother (video game s ...

'', directed by

T. Hayes Hunter Thomas Hayes Hunter (December 1, 1884 – April 14, 1944) was an American film director and producer of the silent era. He directed a total of 34 films between 1912 and 1934. Early career Hayes was born on December 1, 1884, in Philadelphia ...

(1920, based on the short story ''The Ghost's Story'') *''Dust Flower'', directed by

Rowland V. Lee Rowland Vance Lee (September 6, 1891 – December 21, 1975) was an American film director, actor, writer, and producer. Biography Early life Born in Findlay, Ohio, Lee was the son of a suffragette who founded a newspaper. He studied at Columbi ...

(1922, based on the novel ''The Dust Flower'') *''

Let Not Man Put Asunder ''Let Not Man Put Asunder'' is a 1924 American silent drama film starring Pauline Frederick, produced and directed by J. Stuart Blackton, and distributed by Vitagraph, a company Blackton co-founded. The story is based on a 1902 novel of the sam ...

'', directed by

J. Stuart Blackton James Stuart Blackton (January 5, 1875 – August 13, 1941) was a British-American film producer and director of the silent era. One of the pioneers of motion pictures, he founded Vitagraph Studios in 1897. He was one of the first filmmakers to ...

(1924, based on the novel ''Let Not Man Put Asunder'') *''Damaged Hearts'', directed by

(1924, based on a story by Basil King) *''

Tides of Passion ''Tides of Passion'' is a 1925 American silent film, silent drama film directed by J. Stuart Blackton and starring Mae Marsh, Ben Hendricks Jr. and Laska Winter.Munden p.812 Cast * Mae Marsh as Charity * Ben Hendricks Jr. as William Pennland * ...

'', directed by

(1925, based on the novel ''In the Garden of Charity'') *''

'', directed by

Irving Pichel Irving Pichel (June 24, 1891 – July 13, 1954) was an American actor and film director, who won acclaim both as an actor and director in his Hollywood career. Career Pichel was born to a Jewish family in Pittsburgh. He attended Pittsburgh Cent ...

(1940, based on the short story ''The Ghost's Story'')

References

External links

Short biography of Basil King
Online-Literature.com
Portrait of the author, 1923
Univ. of Washington: Sayre collection

Electronic editions

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:King, Basil 1859 births 1928 deaths Canadian Anglican priests Canadian male novelists Writers from Charlottetown