Owen McMahon Johnson (August 27, 1878 – January 27, 1952) was an American writer best remembered for his stories and novels cataloguing the educational and personal growth of the fictional character ''Dink Stover''. The "Lawrenceville Stories" (''The Prodigious Hickey,'' ''The Tennessee Shad'', ''The Varmint'', ''Skippy Bedelle'', ''The Hummingbird''), set in the well-known prep school, invite comparison with Kipling's '' Stalky & Co.'' A 1950 film, '' The Happy Years'', and a 1987 PBS mini-series, ''

The Lawrenceville Stories ''The Lawrenceville Stories'' (also known as ''The Prodigious Hickey'') is a 1987–1989 miniseries, directed by Allan A. Goldstein and Robert Iscove, based on ''The Lawrenceville Stories'' written by Owen Johnson. The series was originally br ...

'', were based on them.

Biography

He was born in New York City, the son of Robert Underwood Johnson and his wife Katharine, née McMahon, and attended Lawrenceville School, founding and editing the ''Lawrenceville Literary Magazine'', known as ''The Lit''.William McCann, “Owen McMahon Johnson”, in ''Dictionary of American Biography, Supplement Five 1951-1955'', ed. John Garraty (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1977), 371-373 He attended Yale University, as a member of the Class of 1900, graduating in 1901, marrying Mary Galt Stockly and moving to Paris, where he did his initial writing. He was a war correspondent for the '' New York Times'' and ''

Collier's ''Collier's'' was an American general interest magazine founded in 1888 by Peter Fenelon Collier. It was launched as ''Collier's Once a Week'', then renamed in 1895 as ''Collier's Weekly: An Illustrated Journal'', shortened in 1905 to ''Collie ...

'' during World War I. His first wife died in 1910. His married his second wife Esther Ellen Cobb (better known as Cobina Wright Sr.) in 1912 and divorced in 1917. His third wife was Cecile Denise de la Garde, who died in 1918. His fourth wife was Catherine Sayre Burton, who died in 1923. His fifth wife was Gertrude Bovee Le Boutillier. He was the father of five children. Johnson worked and resided in

Stockbridge, Massachusetts Stockbridge is a town in Berkshire County in Western Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,018 at the 2020 census. A year-round resort area, Stockbridge is h ...

from 1923 to 1948, writing about marriage, divorce, and golf. After 1931, his writing activities became less intense, and he became interested in politics, running (unsuccessfully) for the House of Representatives in 1936 and 1938. He died at his home in Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts, where he had lived for five years.

Writings

* ''Arrows of the Almighty'' (1901). * ''In the Name of Liberty'' (1905). * ''Max Fargus'' (1906). * ''The Eternal Boy'' (1909; a 'Lawrenceville' story). * ''The Prodigious Hickey'' (1910; a reissue of ''The Eternal Boy''). * ''The Humming Bird'' (1910; also one of the 'Lawrenceville' stories). * ''The Varmint'' (1910; introducing Dink Stover at Lawrenceville). * ''The Tennessee Shad'' (1911; a 'Lawrenceville' story). * ''

Stover at Yale ''Stover at Yale'', by Owen Johnson is a novel describing undergraduate life at Yale at the turn of the 20th century. The book was described by F. Scott Fitzgerald as the "textbook" of his generation. ''Stover at Yale'' recounts Dink Stover's n ...

'' (1912; Dink Stover from ''The Varmint'' goes to Yale). * ''Murder in Any Degree'' (1913; stories). * ''The Sixty-first Second'' (1913; a novel concerning the

Panic of 1907 The Panic of 1907, also known as the 1907 Bankers' Panic or Knickerbocker Crisis, was a financial crisis that took place in the United States over a three-week period starting in mid-October, when the New York Stock Exchange fell almost 50% from ...

). * ''The Salamander'' (1913). * ''Making Money'' (1915). * ''The Woman Gives'' (1915). * ''The Spirit of France'' (1916; nonfiction). * ''Virtuous Wives'' (1918). * ''The Wasted Generation'' (1921). * ''Skippy Bedelle'' (1922; also one of the 'Lawrenceville' stories). * ''Blue Blood'' (1923). * ''Children of Divorce'' (1927). * ''Sacrifice'' (1929). * ''The Coming of the Amazons'' (1931).

Adaptions

Several films are based upon Johnson novels, including '' The Salamander'' (1916) produced by B. S. Moss, ''

The Varmint ''The Varmint'' is a lost 1917 American comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, book ...

'' (1917), '' Virtuous Wives'' (1918), '' The Woman Gives'' (1920), '' The Enemy Sex'' (1924) (based on ''The Salamander''), '' Children of Divorce'' (1927), and '' The Happy Years'' (1950) starring Dean Stockwell and Leo G. Carroll. A 1987-1989

miniseries A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format h ...

of ''

'' was directed by

Allan A. Goldstein Allan A. Goldstein (born May 23, 1949) is an American film director and screenwriter, perhaps best known for directing the Charles Bronson vehicle ''Death Wish V: The Face of Death'' and the Leslie Nielsen comedy ''2001: A Space Travesty''. Fil ...

and Robert Iscove. The series followed the adventures of school prankster Hickey ( Zach Galligan) and his rival, The Tennessee Shad ( Nicholas Rowe).

References

External links

* * * * * * Owen Johnson Papers. Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Owen 1878 births 1952 deaths 20th-century American novelists Lawrenceville School alumni The New York Times writers People from Tisbury, Massachusetts People from Stockbridge, Massachusetts Novelists from Massachusetts Writers from New York City Yale University alumni American war correspondents American male novelists American male short story writers 20th-century American short story writers 20th-century American male writers Novelists from New York (state) 20th-century American non-fiction writers American male non-fiction writers