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 ''The Happy Years'' is a 1950 film based on the 1910 novel ''The Varmint'' by Owen Johnson. It concerns the adventures of Dink Stover, a boy attending the Lawrenceville School in New Jersey. Plot Expelled from other preparatory schools, most rec ...

'', and a 1987

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educati ...

mini-series, '' The Lawrenceville Stories'', were based on them.

Biography

He was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, the son of Robert Underwood Johnson and his wife Katharine, née McMahon, and attended

Lawrenceville School The Lawrenceville School is a coeducational preparatory school for boarding and day students located in the Lawrenceville section of Lawrence Township, in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. Lawrenceville is a member of the Eight Sch ...

, 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 Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the worl ...

, as a member of the Class of 1900, graduating in 1901, marrying Mary Galt Stockly and moving to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, where he did his initial writing. He was a war correspondent for 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 ...

'' 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 ...

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 House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

in 1936 and 1938. He died at his home in

Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts Vineyard Haven is a community within the town of Tisbury, Massachusetts on the island of Martha's Vineyard. It is listed as a census-designated place (CDP) by the U.S. Census Bureau with a population of 2,114 as of the 2010 census. The area was ...

, 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'' (1917), ''

Virtuous Wives ''Virtuous Wives'' is a lost 1918 American silent drama film directed by George Loane Tucker, and stars Anita Stewart. Future gossip columnist Hedda Hopper (billed as Mrs. DeWolf Hopper) co-starred. Based on the novel of the same name by Owen J ...

'' (1918), ''

The Woman Gives ''The Woman Gives'' is a 1920 American silent drama film directed by Roy William Neill and starring Norma Talmadge, John Halliday, and Edmund Lowe. Plot As described in a film magazine, artist Inga Sonderson (Talmadge) and her betrothed sculpt ...

'' (1920), ''

The Enemy Sex ''The Enemy Sex'' is a 1924 American silent drama film starring Betty Compson and directed by her husband James Cruze. It was produced by Famous Players-Lasky and released by Paramount Pictures. It is taken from the 1914 novel ''The Salamander ...

'' (1924) (based on ''The Salamander''), '' Children of Divorce'' (1927), and ''

'' (1950) starring

Dean Stockwell Robert Dean Stockwell (March 5, 1936 – November 7, 2021) was an American actor with a career spanning seven decades. As a child actor under contract to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, he first came to the public's attention in films including '' Anchors ...

and

Leo G. Carroll Leo Gratten Carroll (25 October 1886 – 16 October 1972) was an English actor. In a career of more than forty years, he appeared in six Hitchcock films including ''Spellbound'', '' Strangers on a Train'' and ''North by Northwest'' and in thr ...

. 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 forma ...

of '' The Lawrenceville Stories'' was directed by Allan A. Goldstein and

Robert Iscove Robert Iscove is a Canadian film and television director, television producer and a choreographer. Filmography * '' Love and Larceny'' (1985, TV) * '' The Lawrenceville Stories'' (1987-1989, miniseries) * '' Shattered Dreams'' (1990, TV) * ''Mi ...

. The series followed the adventures of school prankster Hickey (

Zach Galligan Zachary Wolfe Galligan (born February 14, 1964) is an American actor. He is best known for starring as Billy Peltzer in the comedy-horror films ''Gremlins'' (1984) and '' Gremlins 2: The New Batch'' (1990). Early life and education Galligan was ...

) 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