Davis, Richard Harding

Davis, Richard Harding

(1864–1916) journalist, writer; born in Philadelphia. Starting as a newspaper reporter in Philadelphia and then New York (1886–91), Harding was managing editor of Harper's Weekly from 1891 to 1893 but spent most of his later career as a freelance, traveling and writing articles, as well as fiction and drama. One of the most popular reporters of his day, he covered half a dozen conflicts, including the Spanish-American War, the Boer War, and World War I, and reported on such events as the 1889 Johnstown (Pa.) flood and Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee (1897), in a colorful style bordering on the sensational. His short story "Gallegher" (1890) brought him instant renown as a fiction writer, and he wrote many more, often focusing on a gentleman-adventurer as hero. Also popular were his novels, including Soldiers of Fortune (1897), and several plays. His work was considered somewhat superficial and is not well-known today.

The Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography, by John S. Bowman. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995. Reproduced with permission.