Jacques Futrelle

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Jacques Futrelle

Born April 9, 1875(1875-04-09)
Pike County, Georgia
Died April 15, 1912 (aged 37)
Atlantic Ocean, aboard the RMS Titanic
Occupation Mystery writer, journalist
Nationality American
Writing period
1905 - 1912
Genres Detective fiction
Official website

Jacques Heath Futrelle (April 9, 1875 - April 15, 1912) was an American journalist and mystery writer. He is best known for writing short detective stories featuring the "Thinking Machine", Professor Augustus S. F. X. Van Dusen.

Contents

[edit] Career

Futrelle, who was born in Pike County, Georgia, worked for the Atlanta Journal, where he began their sports section; the New York Herald; the Boston Post; and the Boston American, where, in 1905, his Thinking Machine character first appeared in a serialized version of "The Problem of Cell 13". In 1895, he married fellow writer Lily May Peel, with whom he had two children, Virginia and Jacques "John" Jr.

Futrelle left the Boston American in 1906 to focus his attention on writing novels. He had a house built in Scituate, Massachusetts, which he called "Stepping Stones", and spent most of his time there until his death in 1912.

Returning from Europe aboard the RMS Titanic, Futrelle, a first-cabin passenger, refused to board a lifeboat insisting his wife board instead, according to his wife, with the belief that her boarding would give him a better chance of surviving; he perished in the Atlantic. On 29 July 1912 his mother, Linnie Futrelle, died in her Georgia home; her death was attributed to grief over her son's death.

Futrelle is used as the protagonist in The Titanic Murders, a novel about two murders aboard the Titanic, by Max Allan Collins.

[edit] Selected works

[edit] Novels

[edit] Short story collections

  • The Thinking Machine (1907), reprinted as The Problem of Cell 13 (1918)
    • The Flaming Phantom
    • The Great Auto Mystery
    • The Man Who Was Lost
    • The Mystery of a Studio
    • The Problem of Cell 13
    • The Ralston Bank Burglary
    • The Scarlet Thread
  • The Thinking Machine on the Case (1908), UK title The Professor on the Case

[edit] Stories

  • "The Problem of Cell 13" (1905)
  • "The House That Was" (a literary experiment with his wife, in the which The Thinking Machine provided a rational solution to the seemingly impossible and supernatural events of a ghost story written by May)
  • "The Phantom Motor"
  • Various other short stories (see Augustus S. F. X. Van Dusen for more)

[edit] References

  • "Futrelle Refused to Enter Lifeboat". The New York Times. 19 April 1912: 6.
  • "Futrelle's Mother is Dead". The New York Times. 30 July 1912: 1.
  • "Jacques Futrelle". Contemporary Authors. 2000. Gale Group Databases. 1 August 2003 <http://www.infotrac.galegroup.com>.
  • "Says Ismay Ruled in Titanic's Boats." The New York Times. 26 June 1915: 6.

[edit] External links


Persondata
NAME Futrelle, Jacques
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION Mystery writer
DATE OF BIRTH April 9, 1875
PLACE OF BIRTH Pike County, Georgia
DATE OF DEATH April 15, 1912
PLACE OF DEATH Atlantic Ocean, aboard the RMS Titanic