John Luther Long (January 1, 1861 – October 31, 1927) was an American

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

and writer best known for his short story "

Madame Butterfly ''Madama Butterfly'' (; ''Madame Butterfly'') is an opera in three acts (originally two) by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It is based on the short story " Madame Butterfly" (1898) by John Lut ...

", which was based on the recollections of his sister, Jennie Correll, who had been to Japan with her husband—a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

.John Luther Long: An Inventory of His Papers at the Harry Ransom Center
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Biography

Born in

Hanover, Pennsylvania Hanover is a borough in York County, Pennsylvania, southwest of York and north-northwest of Baltimore, Maryland and is north of the Mason-Dixon line. The town is situated in a productive agricultural region. The population was 16,429 at the ...

, Long had been admitted to the bar in Philadelphia on October 29, 1881, and become a practicing lawyer. On January 17, 1882, he married Mary Jane Sprenkle. He died at age 66 on October 31, 1927, having spent the last two months of his life at a sanatorium in

Clifton Springs, New York Clifton Springs is a village located in Ontario County, New York, United States. The population was 2,127 at the 2010 census. The village takes its name from local mineral springs. The Village of Clifton Springs is located primarily in the To ...

. The obituary in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' of November 1, 1927, quoted his own interpretation of himself as "a sentimentalist, and a feminist and proud of it". With

David Belasco David Belasco (July 25, 1853 – May 14, 1931) was an American theatrical producer, impresario, director, and playwright. He was the first writer to adapt the short story ''Madame Butterfly'' for the stage. He launched the theatrical career of m ...

he wrote the four act play ''Adrea'' which starred

Mrs. Leslie Carter Caroline Louise Dudley (June 10, 1857 – November 13, 1937) was an American silent film and stage actress who found fame on Broadway through collaborations with impresario David Belasco. She was a strikingly beautiful and vivacious performer ...

and which ran for 123 performances at the first

Belasco Theatre The Belasco Theatre is a Broadway theatre, Broadway theater at 111 West 44th Street, between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue and Sixth Avenue, in the Theater District, Manhattan, Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York Ci ...

. His one act play ''Dolce'' was staged at the Manhattan Theater on April 24, 1906, starring

Minnie Maddern Fiske Minnie Maddern Fiske (born Marie Augusta Davey; December 19, 1865 – February 15, 1932), but often billed simply as Mrs. Fiske, was one of the leading American actresses of the late 19th and early 20th century. She also spearheaded the fig ...

.New York Times, April 25, 1906

References

External links

John Luther Long Papers
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 ...

* * * * * Madame Butterfly, ''The Century'' Volume 55 Issue 3 (Jan 1898
pp. 374–393
* Madame Butterfl

with

photogravure Photogravure (in French ''héliogravure'') is a process for printing photographs, also sometimes used for reproductive intaglio printmaking. It is a photo-mechanical process whereby a copper plate is grained (adding a pattern to the plate) and ...

illustrations by C. Yarnall Abbott (1870–1938)
David Belasco's Play
Madame Butterfly, A Tragedy of Japan (from "Six Plays" Little, Brown 1928)

American Studies at The University of Virginia. {{DEFAULTSORT:Long, John Luther American short story writers American opera librettists 1861 births 1927 deaths Writers from Philadelphia People from Cheltenham, Pennsylvania 19th-century American lawyers