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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 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, Pembrokeshire, Wales. While living with his older brother he was, for a year or more, a pupil at The Royal School, Armagh. At the age of 12 he was sent to Wales 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 dram ...
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 scho ...
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, 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. Harris eventually grew tired of life in the cattle industry and enrolled at the University of Kansas, 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 c ...
, France, and Greece 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 papers including the '' Evening News'', the '' Fortnightly Review'' and the '' Saturday Review'', the last-named being the high point of his journalistic career, with H. G. Wells and
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 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,'' a popular monthly which combined short story fiction with socialist-tinted features on contemporary news topics. One issue of the publication was banned from the mails by Postmaster General Albert S. Burleson during the period of American participation in the Great War. Despite this Harris managed to navigate the delicate situation which faced the left wing press and to keep the ''Pearson's'' 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'' 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, Parody, parodist and Caricature, caricaturist under the signature Max. He first became known in the 1890s as a dandy and a humorist. He was the drama critic ...
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, 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
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 ...
. His attempts at playwriting were less successful: only ''Mr. and Mrs. Daventry'' (1900) (which was based on an idea by
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 ...
) was produced on the stage.


Death and legacy

Married three times, Harris died in Nice 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

*''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) *''
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 ...
'', (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, 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 Nice 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 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 ''
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 ...
'', 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 in the title role. In 1958, the feature film '' Cowboy'' is an adaptation of the semi-autobiographical novel ''My Reminiscences as a Cowboy''. Harris is played by Jack Lemmon. 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 ''Allo 'Allo!'' is a British sitcom television series, created by David Croft and Jeremy Lloyd, starring Gorden Kaye, Carmen Silvera, Guy Siner and Richard Gibson. Originally broadcast on BBC1, the series focuses on the life of a French ca ...
''. On television, Harris was played by Leonard Rossiter in a 1978 BBC Play of the Week: ''Fearless Frank, or, Tidbits From The Life Of An Adventurer''. 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
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 ...
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 Natio ...
: '' 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'', rejecting a story from Wells for being too long and too preposterous. Harris appears as a vampire in
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'' at ...
'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 ITV ...
'' (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 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'', two of the ''Star Trek'' feature films, the 1983 tel ...
'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 ...
. 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


Further reading

* Philippa Pullar, ''Frank Harris.'' 1975. * Robert Brainard Pearsall, ''Frank Harris.'' New York: Twayne Publishers, 1970. * Stanley Weintraub (ed.), ''The Playwright and the Pirate, Bernard Shaw and Frank Harris: A Correspondence.'' Pennsylvania State University Press, 1982. * Charles Chaplin, My Autobiography pages 242–244. Simon and Schuster, 1964 * Kate Stephens, ''Lies and Libels of Frank Harris,'' New York, Antigone Press, 1929.


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 p ...
at the University of Texas at Austin
Frank Harris Collection
at th
Kenneth Spencer Research Library
at the University of Kansas * {{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Frank British erotica writers British male journalists 1856 births 1931 deaths People from Galway (city) People from County Galway British publishers (people) People educated at Ruabon Grammar School University of Kansas alumni American editors Irish emigrants to the United States (before 1923) Irish people of Welsh descent People with acquired American citizenship