William John Locke

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William John Locke (March 20, 1863 - May 15, 1930) was a novelist, short story writer, and playwright born in Demerara, in what is now Guyana. Educated in Trinidad and at Cambridge, he entered on a career as a teacher in 1890, but disliked it; in 1897 he became secretary of the Royal Institute of British Architects, a post he held for a decade. In 1894 he published his first novel, At the Gate of Samaria, but he did not achieve real success for another decade, with The Morals of Marcus Ordeyne (1905) and The Beloved Vagabond (1906). Chambers Biographical Dictionary wrote of his "long series of novels and plays which with their charmingly written sentimental themes had such a success during his life in both Britain and America... His plays, some of which were dramatized versions of his novels, were all produced with success on the London Stage" (p. 836).

Five times Locke's books made the list of bestselling novels in the United States for the year as determined by the New York Times. His works have been made into twenty-four motion pictures the most recent of which was Ladies in Lavender, filmed in 2004 and starring Dame Judi Dench and Maggie Smith. Adapted to the screen by Charles Dance, it was based on Locke's 1916 short story of the same title that had been published in a collection entitled "Faraway Stories." Probably the most famous of Locke's books adapted to the screen was the 1918 Pickford Film Corporation production of Stella Maris starring Mary Pickford. In addition, four of his books were made into Broadway plays, two of which Locke wrote and were produced by Charles Frohman.

Locke died in Paris, France in 1930. Beginning in 2004, twenty-eight of his books were republished by Kessinger Publishing of Whitefish, Montana, a publishing house who specializes in publishing out-of-print books; many of his books are also freely available in various digital formats from Project Gutenberg, Internet Archive and Google Books.

William J. Locke was the uncle of Leslie Mitchell (1905-1985), an actor and radio and television personality who was the first commentator for the new BBC Television Service on its inauguration in November of 1936.


Bibliography:

  • At the Gate of Samaria (1894)
  • The Demagogue and Lady Phayre (1895)
  • Some Women and a Man; A Comedy of Contrasts (1896)
  • Derelicts (1897)
  • White Dove (1900)
  • The Usurper (1901)
  • Where Love Is (1903)
  • The Morals of Marcus Ordeyne (1905)
  • The Beloved Vagabond (1906)
  • A Study In Shadows (1908)
  • Septimus (1909) No. 10 for the year 1909 in the U.S.
  • A Christmas Mystery - The Story of Three Wise Men (1910)
  • Viviette (1910)
  • Simon the Jester (1910) No. 6 for the year 1910 in the U.S.
  • The Glory of Clementina Wing (1911)
  • Idols (1911)
  • The Joyous Adventures of Aristide Pujol (1912)
  • Stella Maris (1913)
  • The Fortunate Youth (1914) No. 5 for the year 1914 in the U.S.
  • Jaffrey (1915) No. 6 for the year 1915 in the U.S.
  • Faraway Stories (1916) (short story collection)
  • The Wonderful Year (1916)
  • The Red Planet (1917) No. 3 for the year 1917 in the U.S.
  • The Rough Road (1918)
  • The House of Baltazar (1920)
  • The Apostle (1921)
  • The Tale of Triona (1922)
  • The Lengthened Shadow (1923)
  • Moordius & Co (1923)
  • The Golden Journey of Mr. Paradyne (1924)
  • The Coming of Amos (1924)
  • The Great Pandolfo (1925)
  • Perella (1926)
  • The Mountebank (1926)
  • The Old Bridge (1926)
  • Stories Near and Far (1927)
  • The Kingdom of Theophilus (1927)
  • Joshua's Vision (1928)
  • Ancestor Jorico (1929)
  • The Town of Tombarel (1930)
  • The Shorn Lamb (1930)

[edit] References

  • D.C. Browning (ed.), Everyman's Dictionary of Literary Biography English & American" (1958)
  • Chambers Biographical Dictionary (rev. ed. 1984)

[edit] External links


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