John Fox Jr. (December 18, 1862 – July 3, 1919) was an American journalist, novelist, and short story writer. His home in

Big Stone Gap, Virginia Big Stone Gap is a town in Wise County, Virginia, United States. The town was economically centered around the coal industry for much of its early development. The population was 5,254 at the 2020 census. History The community was formerly kn ...

is a museum and listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. Several of his works were bestsellers and were adapted to films. He married an opera star. He was inducted into the Kentucky Writers Hall of Fame.

Biography

Born in Stony Point, Kentucky, to John William Fox Sr. and Minerva Worth Carr, Fox studied English at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. He graduated in 1883 before becoming a reporter in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. After working for both ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' and the ''

New York Sun ''The New York Sun'' is an American conservative news website and former newspaper based in Manhattan, New York. From 2009 to 2021, it operated as an (occasional and erratic) online-only publisher of political and economic opinion pieces, as we ...

'', he published a successful serialization of his first novel, ''A Mountain Europa'', in ''Century'' magazine in 1892. Two moderately successful short story collections followed, as well as his first conventional novel, '' The Kentuckians'' in

1898 Events January * January 1 – New York City annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York as the world's second largest. The city is geographically divided into five boroughs: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queen ...

. Fox gained a following as a

war correspondent A war correspondent is a journalist who covers stories first-hand from a war, war zone. War correspondence stands as one of journalism's most important and impactful forms. War correspondents operate in the most conflict-ridden parts of the wor ...

, working for ''Harper's Weekly'' in

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

during the

Spanish–American War The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) was fought between Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine (1889), USS ''Maine'' in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the ...

of 1898, where he served with the " Rough Riders." Six years later he traveled to Asia to report on the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War (8 February 1904 – 5 September 1905) was fought between the Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan over rival imperial ambitions in Manchuria and the Korean Empire. The major land battles of the war were fought on the ...

for '' Scribner's'' magazine. Though he occasionally wrote for periodicals, after 1904, Fox dedicated much of his attention to fiction. '' The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come'' (published in 1903) and '' The Trail of the Lonesome Pine'' (published in 1908) are arguably his most well known and successful works, entering the ''New York Times'' top ten list of bestselling novels for 1903, 1904, 1908, and 1909 respectively. In ''The Trail of the Lonesome Pine'', the character Devil Judd Tolliver was based on the real life of "Devil John" Wesley Wright, the sheriff of Wise County, Virginia. Many of his works reflected the

naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

style, his childhood in Kentucky's Bluegrass region, and his life among the coal miners of

. Many of his novels were historical romances or period dramas set in that region.

Legacy

John Fox Jr. died in 1919 of pneumonia during the global influenza epidemic in

; he was buried in the family plot in

Paris, Kentucky Paris is a home rule-class city in Bourbon County, Kentucky, and the county seat. It lies northeast of Lexington on the Stoner Fork of the Licking River. It is part of the Lexington–Fayette Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of 2020, it ha ...

. His marriage to Austrian opera singer Fritzi Scheff in 1908 lasted just over four years. He had no children.

The John Fox Jr. House in Big Stone Gap was turned into a museum after the death of John's sister in 1970.John Fox Jr. Museum
. It was listed on the

in 1974.

Bibliography

* ''A Cumberland Vendetta and Other Stories'' (1895) * ''Hell-fer-Sartain and Other Stories'' (1897) * ''The Kentuckians'' (1898) * ''A Mountain Europa'' (serialized 1892, published 1899) * ''Crittenden: A Kentucky Story of Love and War'' (1900) * ''Blue-grass and Rhododendron: Outdoors in Old Kentucky'' (1901) * '' The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come'' (1903) * ''Christmas Eve on Lonesome and Other Stories'' (1904) * ''Following the Sun Flag: A Vain Pursuit Through Manchuria'' (1905) * ''A Knight of the Cumberland'' (1906) * '' The Trail of the Lonesome Pine'' (1908) * ''The Heart of the Hills'' (1913) * ''In Happy Valley'' (1917) * ''Erskine Dale'' (1920) * ''A Purple Rhododendron and Other Stories'' (1967)

Filmography

*'' The Trail of the Lonesome Pine'', directed by Cecil B. DeMille (1916, based on the novel '' The Trail of the Lonesome Pine'') *''

Heart o' the Hills ''Heart o' the Hills'' is a 1919 American silent drama film directed by Joseph De Grasse and Sidney Franklin, written by Bernard McConville based on John Fox Jr.'s novel of the same name. Plot Jason Honeycutt ( Harold Goodwin) is a young bo ...

'', directed by Joseph De Grasse and Sidney Franklin (1919, based on the novel ''The Heart of the Hills'') *'' The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come'', directed by

Wallace Worsley Wallace Ashley Worsley (December 8, 1878 – March 26, 1944) was an American stage actor who became a film actor and film director during the Silent film, silent era. Over the course of his career, Worsley directed 29 films and acted in 7. He dir ...

(1920, based on the novel ''The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come'') *'' A Cumberland Romance'', directed by Charles Maigne (1920, based on the novel ''A Mountain Europa'') *'' The Kentuckians'', directed by Charles Maigne (1921, based on the novel ''The Kentuckians'') *'' The Trail of the Lonesome Pine'', directed by Charles Maigne (1923, based on the novel '' The Trail of the Lonesome Pine'') *''The Hill Billy'', directed by George Hill (1924, based on a story by John Fox Jr.) *'' The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come'', directed by

Alfred Santell Alfred Allen Santell (1895–1981), was an American film director and film producer. Santell directed over 60 films, beginning in 1917, most of which were two-reel comedy short subjects for Hal Roach and other productions companies. Taking up f ...

(1928, based on the novel ''The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come'') *'' The Trail of the Lonesome Pine'', directed by

Henry Hathaway Henry Hathaway (March 13, 1898 – February 11, 1985) was an American film director and producer. He is best known as a director of Western (genre), Westerns, especially starring Randolph Scott and John Wayne. He directed Gary Cooper in seven f ...

(1936, based on the novel '' The Trail of the Lonesome Pine'') *'' The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come'', directed by Andrew V. McLaglen (1961, based on the novel ''The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come'')

References

External links

* * *
Guide to the John Fox Jr., Duncan tavern papers, 1883-1919
housed at the University of Kentucky Libraries Special Collections Research Center * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fox, John Jr. 1862 births 1919 deaths 19th-century American novelists American male journalists Harvard University alumni People from Bourbon County, Kentucky Novelists from Kentucky War correspondents of the Russo-Japanese War American war correspondents Deaths from the Spanish flu pandemic Deaths from pneumonia in Virginia People from Big Stone Gap, Virginia 20th-century American novelists American male novelists American male short story writers 19th-century American short story writers 19th-century American male writers Infectious disease deaths in Virginia 20th-century American short story writers Journalists from Virginia Novelists from Virginia 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters