POPULAR STORY-WRITER

Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 70, 15 December 1928, Page 26

POPULAR STORY-WRITER

GEORGE BARR McCUTCHEON. George Barr McCutcheon, author of “Beverly of Graustark” and other novels, who dropped dead recently while attending a luncheon, was G2 years old. McCutcheon was a former Indiana newspaper man and was formerly president of the Authors’ League of America.

McCutcheon had lived in New York periodically for nearly twenty years. For the past six years he made his home there almost continually. He was a brother of John T. McCutcheon, the noted Chicago cartoonist. He began his newspaper career as a reporter on the Lafayette (Ind.) “Journal” when he was 23 years old. Subsequently he became city editor of the Lafayette “Courier.” He was a member of the Loyal Legion and the Players gnd Century Clubs of New York. ■

His first published novel w'as “Graustark,” in 1901, and in what he then believed to be a burst of business acumen he sold that outright for 500 dollars. Just how much the publisher made by that arrangement has never been made public. After that McCutcheon wrote steadily and for the next quarter of a century no year passed without a new book from his pen, and in many years there were two. There was a whole group of Graustark books, all of which had a wide vogue, and among others “Brewster’s Millions" was perhaps as popular as any.

After the success of his Graustark series McCutcheon had a desire to learn whether his reputation was responsible for the sale of his later books, so he wrote “Brewster’s Millions” and had it published under the name “Richard Greaves." The book was well received, and it was not until after a large sale that the public learned that its author was Mr. iilpCiitcheon. Although some reviewers referred to his Graustark novels as “Zenda stories.’,’ Mr. McCntelieon declared he had never read “The Prisoner of Zenda” when he wrote “Graustark.” lie expressed the belief that the works of Robert Louis Stevenson had more influence op his writings than those of any other author. Although many of his best novels' were „ east 'in European settings, McCutcheon, singularly enough, enjoyed only one short trip abroad during his life. During later years he gathered a remarkable collection of first-edition Victorian novels from the corners of the world. He obtained first and rare editions of Dickens, Thackeray, Hardy, and Kipling, and had one of the finest Kipling collections in existence. Recently he sold this library at auction, and booklovers from America. England, and the Continent were bidders.