Richard Beers Loos (October 4, 1860 – March 6, 1944), was an American journalist and newspaper publisher. His daughter was

Anita Loos Corinne Anita Loos (April 26, 1888 – August 18, 1981) was an American actress, novelist, playwright and screenwriter. In 1912, she became the first female staff screenwriter in Hollywood, when D. W. Griffith put her on the payroll at Triang ...

, a playwright and author who wrote, among other titles, '' Gentlemen Prefer Blondes''.

Biography

Loos most often used the shortened form of his name for official work, R. Beers Loos. R. Beers Loos married Minerva Ellen "Minnie" Smith. The couple had three children, including Anita. The family lived near Sisson, California (today

Mount Shasta Mount Shasta ( Shasta: ''Waka-nunee-Tuki-wuki''; Karuk: ''Úytaahkoo'') is a potentially active volcano at the southern end of the Cascade Range in Siskiyou County, California. At an elevation of , it is the second-highest peak in the Cascades ...

). At that time, Loos owned a local newspaper called the ''Sisson Mascot''. Most accounts indicate that he moved from Sisson to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

in 1892. R. Beers Loos' whereabouts on December 5 that year are exactly known, witnessed by primary sources. On that date, Loos penned a letter in response to then-Governor of California, H. H. Markham, to present facts and opinion regarding a local murder case. Markham had evidently solicited information from Loos after receiving letters both in favor of and against the pardon of the inmate charged with the crime, Frank Cochran, who was being held at

San Quentin prison San Quentin State Prison (SQ) is a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation state prison for men, located north of San Francisco in the unincorporated place of San Quentin in Marin County. Opened in July 1852, San Quentin is the ...

. The date line of the letter reads "Sisson" and end of the letter reads "Sisson Mascot," seemingly indicating he still had an interest in the Northern California newspaper as of late 1892. American male journalists Journalists from California American newspaper publishers (people) 1944 deaths 1860 births People from Mount Shasta, California {{US-bio-stub