Thorne Smith
American novelist (1892–1934) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about Thorne Smith?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
James Thorne Smith, Jr. (March 27, 1892 – June 20, 1934) was an American writer of humorous supernatural fantasy fiction under the byline Thorne Smith. He is best known today for the two Topper novels, comic fantasy fiction involving sex, much drinking and ghosts. With racy illustrations, these sold millions of copies in the 1930s and were equally popular in paperbacks of the 1950s.
This article needs additional citations for verification. (June 2022) |
Thorne Smith | |
---|---|
Born | James Thorne Jr (1892-03-27)March 27, 1892 Annapolis, Maryland |
Died | June 20, 1934(1934-06-20) (aged 42) Florida |
Occupation |
|
Period | 1918–1934, 1941 (posthumously) |
Genre | Comic fantasy fiction, mystery, poetry, screenwriting |
Notable works | Topper |
Website | |
www |
Smith was born in Annapolis, Maryland, the son of a Navy commodore, and attended Dartmouth College. Following hungry years in Greenwich Village, working part-time as an advertising agent, Smith achieved meteoric success with the publication of Topper in 1926. He was an early resident of Free Acres, a social experimental community developed by Bolton Hall according to the economic principles of Henry George, in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey.[1] He died of a heart attack in 1934 while vacationing in Florida.