Frank Harris (14 February 1855 – 26 August 1931) was an Irish-American editor, novelist,

short story writer A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...

, journalist and publisher, who was friendly with many well-known figures of his day. Born in Ireland, he emigrated to the United States early in life, working in a variety of unskilled jobs before attending the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...

to study law. After graduation, he quickly tired of his legal career and returned to Europe in 1882. He traveled in continental Europe before settling in London to pursue a career in journalism. In 1921, in his sixties, he became a US citizen. Though he attracted much attention during his life for his irascible, aggressive personality, editorship of famous periodicals, and friendship with the talented and famous, he is remembered mainly for his multiple-volume memoir ''

My Life and Loves ''My Life and Loves'' is the autobiography of the Ireland-born, naturalized-American writer and editor Frank Harris (1856–1931). As published privately by Harris between 1922 and 1927, and by Jack Kahane's Obelisk Press in 1931, the work consi ...

'', which was banned in countries around the world for its sexual explicitness.

Biography

Early years

Harris was born James Thomas Harris in 1855, in

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a City status in Ireland, city in the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lo ...

, Ireland, to Welsh parents. His father, Thomas Vernon Harris, was a naval officer from

Fishguard Fishguard ( cy, Abergwaun, meaning "Mouth of the River Gwaun") is a coastal town in Pembrokeshire, Wales, with a population of 3,419 in 2011; the community of Fishguard and Goodwick had a population of 5,407. Modern Fishguard consists of two pa ...

, Pembrokeshire, Wales. While living with his older brother he was, for a year or more, a pupil at

The Royal School, Armagh The Royal School, Armagh is a co-educational voluntary grammar school, founded in the 17th century, in the city of Armagh in Northern Ireland. It has a boarding department with an international intake. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Hea ...

. At the age of 12 he was sent to

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

to continue his education as a

boarder A boarder may be a person who: *snowboards *skateboards *bodyboards * surfs *stays at a boarding house *attends a boarding school *takes part in a boarding attack The Boarder may also refer to: * ''The Boarder'' (1953 film), a 1953 Soviet drama ...

at the

Ruabon Grammar School Ruabon Grammar School was situated in Ruabon, Denbighshire in north-east Wales. It provided a grammar school education to boys in the parishes of Ruabon and Erbistock. Ruabon Grammar School for Boys became a Denbighshire County secondary school ...

in Denbighshire, a time he was to remember later in ''My Life and Loves''. Harris was unhappy at the school and ran away within a year. Harris ran away to the United States in late 1869, arriving in New York City virtually penniless."Frank Harris is Dead in France: Great Author Succumbs at 75; Had Just Completed a Biography of Shaw", ''The Revolutionary Age'' ew York vol. 2, no. 40 (5 Sept.. 1931), pp. 1, 3. The 14-year-old took a series of odd jobs to support himself, working first as a boot black, a

porter Porter may refer to: Companies * Porter Airlines, Canadian regional airline based in Toronto * Porter Chemical Company, a defunct U.S. toy manufacturer of chemistry sets * Porter Motor Company, defunct U.S. car manufacturer * H.K. Porter, Inc., ...

, a general laborer, and a construction worker on the erection of the

Brooklyn Bridge The Brooklyn Bridge is a hybrid cable-stayed/ suspension bridge in New York City, spanning the East River between the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Opened on May 24, 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was the first fixed crossing of the East River ...

. Harris would later turn these early occupational experiences into art, incorporating tales from them into his book ''The Bomb.'' From New York Harris moved to the

American Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...

, settling in the country's second largest city, Chicago, where he took a job as a hotel clerk and eventually a manager. Owing to Chicago's central place in the meat packing industry, Harris made the acquaintance of various cattlemen, who inspired him to leave the big city to take up work as a

cowboy A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the '' vaquer ...

. Harris eventually grew tired of life in the cattle industry and enrolled at the

, where he studied law and earned a degree, gaining admission to the Kansas state bar association. In 1878, in Brighton, he married Florence Ruth Adams, who died the following year.

Return to Europe

Harris was not cut out to be a lawyer and soon decided to turn his attention to literature. He moved to England in 1882, later traveling to various cities in Germany,

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, France, and

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

on his literary quest. He worked briefly as an American newspaper correspondent before settling down in England to seriously pursue the vocation of journalism. Harris first came to general notice as the editor of a series of London publications, including the ''

Evening News Evening News may refer to: Television news *''CBS Evening News'', an American news broadcast *''ITV Evening News'', a UK news broadcast *'' JNN Evening News'', a Japanese news broadcast *''Evening News'', an alternate name for '' News Hour'' in so ...

'', the ''

Fortnightly Review ''The Fortnightly Review'' was one of the most prominent and influential magazines in nineteenth-century England. It was founded in 1865 by Anthony Trollope, Frederic Harrison, Edward Spencer Beesly, and six others with an investment of £9,000; ...

'' and the '' Saturday Review'', the last-named being the high point of his journalistic career, with

H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells"Wells, H. G."
Revised 18 May 2015. ''

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...

as regular contributors. From 1908 to 1914 Harris concentrated on working as a novelist, authoring a series of popular books such as ''The Bomb,'' ''The Man Shakespeare,'' and ''The Yellow Ticket and Other Stories''. With the advent of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

in the summer of 1914, Harris decided to return to the United States. From 1916 to 1922 he edited the U.S. edition of ''

Pearson's Magazine ''Pearson's Magazine'' was a monthly periodical that first appeared in Britain in 1896. A US version began publication in 1899. It specialised in speculative literature, political discussion, often of a socialist bent, and the arts. Its contribut ...

,'' a popular monthly which combined short story fiction with

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

-tinted features on contemporary news topics. One issue of the publication was banned from the mails by Postmaster General

Albert S. Burleson Albert Sidney Burleson (June 7, 1863 – November 24, 1937) was a progressive Democrat who served as United States Postmaster General and Representative in Congress. He was a strong supporter of William Jennings Bryan and Woodrow Wilson, so Wil ...

during the period of American participation in the

Great War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Despite this Harris managed to navigate the delicate situation which faced the left-wing press and to keep ''

'' functioning and solvent during the war years. Harris became an American citizen in April 1921. In 1922 he travelled to Berlin to publish his best-known work, his autobiography ''My Life and Loves'' (published in four volumes, 1922–1927). It is notorious for its graphic descriptions of Harris' purported sexual encounters and for its exaggeration of the scope of his adventures and his role in history. Years later, ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' magazine reflected in its 21 March 1960 issue "Had he not been a thundering liar, Frank Harris would have been a great autobiographer ... he had the crippling disqualification that he told the truth, as

Max Beerbohm Sir Henry Maximilian Beerbohm (24 August 1872 – 20 May 1956) was an English essayist, parodist and caricaturist under the signature Max. He first became known in the 1890s as a dandy and a humorist. He was the drama critic for the '' Saturday ...

remarked, only 'when his invention flagged'." A fifth volume, supposedly taken from his notes but of doubtful provenance, was published in 1954, long after his death.James Campbell
''Exiled in Paris Richard Wright, James Baldwin, Samuel Beckett and Others on the Left Bank''
pp. 143–147 Books.google.com Harris also wrote short stories and novels, two books on

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

, a series of biographical sketches in five volumes under the title ''Contemporary Portraits'' and biographies of his friends

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...

and

. His attempts at playwriting were less successful: only ''Mr. and Mrs. Daventry'' (1900) (which may have been based on an idea by

) was produced on the stage.

Death and legacy

Married three times, Harris died in

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

aged 75 on 26 August 1931, of a heart attack. He was subsequently buried at Cimetière Sainte-Marguerite, adjacent to the Cimetière Caucade, in the same city. Just after his death a biography written by

Hugh Kingsmill Hugh Kingsmill Lunn (21 November 1889 – 15 May 1949), who dropped his surname for professional purposes, was a versatile British writer and journalist. The writers Arnold Lunn and Brian Lunn were his brothers. Life Hugh Kingsmill Lunn was born ...

(pseudonym of Hugh Kingsmill Lunn) was published.

Works

*" Dulce 'Domum' Kegan Paul (1886) Reprinted Articles from the Saturday Review" *''Elder Conklin: And Other Stories'' (1894) *''Montes the Matador & Other Stories'' (London, Grant Richards, 1900) *'' The Bomb'' (1908) *''The Man Shakespeare and his Tragic Life Story'' (London, Frank Palmer, 1909) *''Unpath'd Waters'' (1915). Stories. *''The Yellow Ticket And Other Stories'' (Grant Richards Ltd., 1914) *The Spectacle Maker (1913) basis for 1934 movie *''The Veils of Isis, and Other Stories'' (1915) * England or Germany ? ( 1915 ) *''Contemporary Portraits... in four vols'' (1915–1923) *''Oscar Wilde, His Life and Confessions'' (1916) *''

'', (1922–1927, 1931, 1954, 1963 (complete)) *''Undream'd of Shores'' (London, Grant Richards, 1924). Stories. *''The Tom Cat: An Apologue'' (1928). Short story. *''My Reminiscences as a Cowboy'' (1930) *''Confessional'' (1930). Essays. *''Pantopia: A Novel'' (1930) *''Bernard Shaw'' (1931) *''The Short Stories of Frank Harris, a Selection'' (1975).

Elmer Gertz Elmer Gertz (September 14, 1906 – April 27, 2000) was an American lawyer, writer, law professor, and civil rights activist. During his lengthy legal career he won some high-profile cases, most notably parole for notorious killer Nathan Leopold a ...

, ed.

Cultural references

In 1920, French writer and diplomat

Paul Morand Paul Morand (13 March 1888 – 24 July 1976) was a French author whose short stories and novellas were lauded for their style, wit and descriptive power. His most productive literary period was the interwar period of the 1920s and 1930s. He was mu ...

met an aged Frank Harris in

and borrowed much of his personality to create the character of O'Patah, a larger than life writer, publisher and Irish patriot, "the last of the Irish bards" in his short story ''La nuit de Portofino kulm'' (part of the famed collection of short stories ''Fermé la nuit'') published in 1923 by Gallimard. In 1922,

Whittaker Chambers Whittaker Chambers (born Jay Vivian Chambers; April 1, 1901 – July 9, 1961) was an American writer-editor, who, after early years as a Communist Party member (1925) and Soviet spy (1932–1938), defected from the Soviet underground (1938), ...

published a "blasphemous" and "sacrilegious" playlet called "A Play for Puppets" in ''The Morningside'', a Columbia University student magazine, based on Frank Harris' 1919 play ''Miracle of the Stigmata'', for which Chambers quit school to avoid expulsion. ("The greater part of it is so plainly sacrilegious that it cannot be reproduced.") In 1929,

Cole Porter Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway and in film. Born to ...

's song "After All, I'm Only a Schoolgirl" references Harris and "My Life and Loves", in a tale about a girl who is learning about adult relationships from a private tutor. In 1936, Harris appeared as a character in the play ''

'', by Leslie &

Sewell Stokes Francis Martin Sewell Stokes (16 November 1902, London – 2 November 1979, London) was an English novelist, biographer, playwright, screenwriter, broadcaster and prison visitor. He collaborated on a number of occasions with his brother, Leslie ...

, first produced at London's Gate Theatre Studio (1936) and later at the Fulton Theatre, New York, in 1938, in both cases starring

Robert Morley Robert Adolph Wilton Morley, CBE (26 May 1908 – 3 June 1992) was an English actor who enjoyed a lengthy career in both Britain and the United States. He was frequently cast as a pompous English gentleman representing the Establishment, of ...

in the title role. In 1958, the feature film ''

Cowboy A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the '' vaquer ...

'' is an adaptation of the semi-autobiographical novel ''My Reminiscences as a Cowboy''. Harris is played by

Jack Lemmon John Uhler Lemmon III (February 8, 1925 – June 27, 2001) was an American actor. Considered equally proficient in both dramatic and comic roles, Lemmon was known for his anxious, middle-class everyman screen persona in dramedy pictures, leadin ...

. In 1960, he is seen as a minor character in ''The Trials of Oscar Wilde'' played by Paul Rogers. Harris had specifically warned Wilde against prosecuting Queensberry for criminal libel, which led to his downfall. In a 1972 episode of ''The Edwardians'', he was played by John Bennett. A volume by Frank Harris held up the couch in "Six Big Boobies" (1985) episode of '' 'Allo 'Allo!''. On television, Harris was played by

Leonard Rossiter Leonard Rossiter (21 October 1926 – 5 October 1984) was an English actor. He had a long career in the theatre but achieved his highest profile for his television comedy roles starring as Rupert Rigsby in the ITV series ''Rising Damp'' from ...

in a 1978 BBC Play of the Week: ''Fearless Frank, or, Tidbits From The Life Of An Adventurer''. In 1980, a musical stage adaptation of ''Fearless Frank'' briefly ran on Broadway at the Princess Theatre, with

Niall Toibin Niall is a male given name of Irish origin. The original meaning of the name is unknown, but popular modern sources have suggested that it means "champion" (derived from the Old Irish word ''niadh''),. According to John Ryan, Professor of Early an ...

in the starring role. It had book and lyrics by Andrew Davies, music by Dave Brown, and was directed by

Robert Gillespie Robert James Gillespie (born 9 November 1933 in Lille, France) is a British actor, director and writer. Notable acting credits include '' Keep It in the Family'' (1980), '' At the Earth's Core'' (1976) and ''Force 10 from Navarone'' (1978). Lat ...

. The production ran for 13 previews and 12 performances. He is a character in the 1997

Tom Stoppard Sir Tom Stoppard (born , 3 July 1937) is a Czech born British playwright and screenwriter. He has written for film, radio, stage, and television, finding prominence with plays. His work covers the themes of human rights, censorship, and politi ...

play ''

The Invention of Love ''The Invention of Love'' is a 1997 play by Tom Stoppard portraying the life of poet A. E. Housman, focusing specifically on his personal life and love for a college classmate. The play is written from the viewpoint of Housman, dealing with his ...

'', which deals with the life of

A. E. Housman Alfred Edward Housman (; 26 March 1859 – 30 April 1936) was an English classical scholar and poet. After an initially poor performance while at university, he took employment as a clerk in London and established his academic reputation by pub ...

and the Oscar Wilde trials. He appears as a close friend of

in the award-winning play by

Moisés Kaufman Moisés Kaufman (born November 21, 1963) is a Venezuelan theater director, filmmaker, playwright, founder of Tectonic Theater Project, based in New York City, and co-founder of Miami New Drama at the Colony Theatre. He was awarded the 2016 National ...

: '' Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde''. He appears in the first episode of the 2001 miniseries ''

The Infinite Worlds of H. G. Wells ''The Infinite Worlds of H. G. Wells'' is a four-hour television miniseries conceived by Nick Willing and released in 2001 by the Hallmark Channel. It is based on a number of short stories by H. G. Wells, and in some territories was titled ''Th ...

'', rejecting a story from Wells for being too long and too preposterous. Harris appears as a

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mi ...

Kim Newman Kim James Newman (born 31 July 1959) is an English journalist, film critic and fiction writer. Recurring interests visible in his work include film history and horror fiction—both of which he attributes to seeing Tod Browning's ''Dracula (1931 ...

's 1992 novel ''

Anno Dracula ''Anno Dracula'' is a 1992 novel by British writer Kim Newman, the first in the ''Anno Dracula'' series. It is an alternate history using 19th-century English historical settings and personalities, along with characters from popular fiction. ...

'', as the mentor and vampire sire of one of the novel's main characters. In the ITV series ''

Mr Selfridge ''Mr Selfridge'' is a British period drama television series about Harry Gordon Selfridge and his department store, Selfridge & Co, in London, set from 1908 to 1928. It was co-produced by ITV Studios and Masterpiece/ WGBH for broadcast on IT ...

'' (2013),

Samuel West Samuel Alexander Joseph West (born 19 June 1966) is an English actor, narrator and theatre director. He has directed on stage and radio, and worked as an actor across theatre, film, television and radio. He often appears as reciter with orche ...

plays a newspaper editor and publisher called Frank Edwards, a character based on Frank Harris.

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...

and Dr. Watson meet Harris in

Nicholas Meyer Nicholas Meyer (born December 24, 1945) is an American writer and director, known for his best-selling novel ''The Seven-Per-Cent Solution'', and for directing the films ''Time After Time (1979 film), Time After Time'', two of the ''Star Trek'' ...

's 1976 novel

The West End Horror ''The West End Horror: A Posthumous Memoir of John H. Watson, M.D.'' is a Sherlock Holmes pastiche novel by Nicholas Meyer, published in 1976. It takes place after two of Meyer's other Holmes pastiches, ''The Seven-Per-Cent Solution'' and ''The C ...

. Watson comments on Harris' habit of always speaking very loudly. In the crime comedy Pulp, Michael Caine plays a novelist who someone compares to Frank Harris, in which Caine glibly replies, "Frank was a novice."

References

External links

* * *
Extensive website by Alfred Armstrong

*
Frank Harris Collection
at the

Harry Ransom Center The Harry Ransom Center (until 1983 the Humanities Research Center) is an archive, library and museum at the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in the collection of literary and cultural artifacts from the Americas and Europe for the pur ...

at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

Frank Harris Collection
at th
Kenneth Spencer Research Library
at the

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Frank British erotica writers British male journalists 1856 births 1931 deaths Writers from Galway (city) British publishers (people) People educated at Ruabon Grammar School University of Kansas alumni American editors British emigrants to the United States People with acquired American citizenship