Eric Mowbray Knight (10 April 1897 – 15 January 1943) was an English novelist and screenwriter, who is mainly known for his 1940 novel '' Lassie Come-Home'', which introduced the fictional

collie Collies form a distinctive type of herding dogs, including many related landraces and standardized breeds. The type originated in Scotland and Northern England. Collies are medium-sized, fairly lightly-built dogs, with pointed snouts. Man ...

Lassie Lassie is a fictional female Rough Collie dog and is featured in a short story by Eric Knight that was later expanded to a full-length novel called '' Lassie Come-Home''. Knight's portrayal of Lassie bears some features in common with another ...

. He took American citizenship in 1942 shortly before his death.

Biography

Born in

Menston Menston is a village and civil parish in the City of Bradford in the county of West Yorkshire, England. Along with Burley in Wharfedale, most of Menston is within Wharfedale Ward in the metropolitan borough of Bradford. The remainder of M ...

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...

, Knight was the youngest of three sons born to Marion Hilda (née Creasser) and Frederic Harrison Knight, both

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abil ...

. His father was a rich diamond merchant who, when Eric was two years old, was killed during the

Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...

. His mother then moved to St. Petersburg,

Imperial Russia The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. T ...

, to work as a governess for the imperial family. The family later settled in the United States in 1912. Knight had a varied career, including service in the

Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI, generally referred to as the Patricia's) is one of the three Regular Force infantry regiments of the Canadian Army of the Canadian Armed Forces. Formed in 1914, it is named for Princess Patri ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

as a signaller then served as a captain of

field artillery Field artillery is a category of mobile artillery used to support armies in the field. These weapons are specialized for mobility, tactical proficiency, short range, long range, and extremely long range target engagement. Until the early 20 ...

in the U.S. Army Reserve until 1926. His two brothers were both killed in World War I serving with the

Pennsylvania Army National Guard The Pennsylvania Army National Guard, abbreviated PAARNG, is part of the United States Army National Guard and is based in the U.S. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Together with the Pennsylvania Air National Guard, it is directed by the Pennsylva ...

. He did stints as an art student, newspaper reporter and Hollywood screenwriter. He married twice, first on 28 July 1917, to Dorothy Caroline Noyes Hall, with whom he had three daughters and later divorced, and secondly to Jere Brylawski on 2 December 1932.

Writing career

Knight's first novel was ''Invitation to Life'' (Greenberg, 1934). The second was ''Song on Your Bugles'' (1936) about the working class in Northern England. As "Richard Hallas", he wrote the hardboiled genre novel ''You Play the Black and the Red Comes Up'' (1938). Knight's ''

This Above All ''This Above All'' (1941) is a novel by English writer Eric Knight. It was adapted into an Academy Award-winning movie in 1942. Title The title of the novel is derived from a quote by Polonius in William Shakespeare's ''Hamlet'' (Act 1, scene 3) ...

'' is considered one of the significant novels of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. He also helped co-author the film, ''Battle of Britain'' in the " Why We Fight" Series under the direction of

Frank Capra Frank Russell Capra (born Francesco Rosario Capra; May 18, 1897 – September 3, 1991) was an Italian-born American film director, producer and writer who became the creative force behind some of the major award-winning films of the 1930s ...

. Knight and his second wife Jere Knight raised collies on their farm in Pleasant Valley,

Bucks County Bucks County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 646,538, making it the fourth-most populous county in Pennsylvania. Its county seat is Doylestown. The county is named after the English ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Ma ...

. They resided at

Springhouse Farm Springhouse Farm, also known as the Eric Knight Farm, is a historic home and farm located at Springfield Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. The house is a Georgian style stone farm house built about 1808, with an addition built about 1941. Oth ...

from 1939 to 1943. ''Note:'' This includes His novel '' Lassie Come-Home'' () was published in 1940, expanded from a short story published in 1938 in ''

The 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 ...

''. One of Knight's last books was ''Sam Small Flies Again'', republished as ''The Flying Yorkshireman'' (Pocket Books 493, 1948; 273 pages). On the back of ''The Flying Yorkshireman'', this blurb appeared:

Works

* ''Song On Your Bugles'' (1936) * ''You Play The Black and The Red Comes Up'' (written as: Richard Hallas) (1940) * ''Now Pray We for Our Country'' (1940) * ''Sam Small Flies Again'' (also titled: The Flying Yorkshireman) (1942) * ''

'' (1942) * '' Lassie Come-Home'' (1943) * ''Portrait of a Flying Yorkshireman'' (edited by Paul Rotha) (1952) Source:

Death

In 1943, at which time he was a major in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

– Special Services where he wrote two of

's '' Why We Fight'' series, Knight was killed in a

C-54 The Douglas C-54 Skymaster is a four-engined transport aircraft used by the United States Army Air Forces in World War II and the Korean War. Like the Douglas C-47 Skytrain derived from the DC-3, the C-54 Skymaster was derived from a civilian ...

air crash in

Dutch Guiana Dutch Guiana may refer to: * Dutch colonisation of the Guianas, the coastal region between the Orinoco and Amazon rivers in South America * Surinam (Dutch colony), commonly called "Dutch Guiana" after the loss of other large colonies in the area ...

(now

Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...

) in South America.

References

External links

"Eric Knight Home Page"
at the Lassie Family Website *

at Chelsea-Collies.com * *
Richard Hallas
at LC Authorities, with 4 records, an
at WorldCat * hdl:10079/fa/beinecke.knight, Eric Knight Papers
. Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. {{DEFAULTSORT:Knight, Eric 1897 births 1943 deaths 20th-century American novelists 20th-century English novelists American children's writers United States Army personnel of World War I Canadian Expeditionary Force soldiers English children's writers English emigrants to the United States Lassie Novelists from Pennsylvania People from Bucks County, Pennsylvania People from Menston Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1943 Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Suriname United States Army personnel killed in World War II United States Army reservists United States Army officers Military personnel from Yorkshire Canadian military personnel of World War I Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry soldiers British emigrants to the United States