John Fleming Wilson

{{Unreliable sources|date=January 2024}} {{Use mdy dates|date=December 2022}} {{short description|American writer (1877–1922)}} {{Infobox writer | name = John Wilson | birth_name = John Fleming Wilson | image = John Fleming Wilson (1877–1922).jpg | image_size = | caption = John Fleming Wilson (1877–1922) | birth_date = {{birth date|1877|02|22}} | birth_place = Erie, Pennsylvania, US | death_date = {{death date and age|1922|03|5|1877|02|22}} | death_place = Venice, California, US | resting_place = | occupation = Writer | education = | notable_works = ''The Man Who Came Back'' | style = | movement = | awards =  | spouse = Elena Burt | children = }} '''John Fleming Wilson''' (February 22, 1877 – March 5, 1922) was an American author, newspaperman, and prolific writer of short stories and adventure novels, best known for his travel books about sea life. Many of his books and short stories were made into films during the 1910s through the 1930s.

==Early life==

Wilson was born on February 22, 1877, in Erie, Pennsylvania. He received his education at Parsons College in Iowa, and at Princeton University.<ref name="Obituary"/> He married Elena Burt in July 1906, in Newport, Oregon. He was later divorced and had no children.<ref name="Obituary"/>

He was a deep-sea sailor, a ship's officer in the merchant marine, wireless operator, and lived for a time in Japan. His study of nautical books and the trips out to sea gave him the opportunity to write sea stories.<ref name="Death"/><ref name="Review">{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/106030837/merchant-marine/|title=Views and Reviews|work=The Evening News|place=Harrisburg, Pennsylvania|date=April 25, 1924|page=8|access-date=2022-07-21}}</ref>

==Career==

Wilson was a schoolteacher from 1900 to 1902 at the Portland Academy. He then worked with a newspaper company from 1902 to 1905. He was the author of several books and contributed short stories to both American and European magazines.<ref name="Obituary"/>

===Newspapers=== thumb|Pacific Monthly (1911)

In 1905, Wilson lived in Honolulu, Hawaii and was a member of the writing staff of ''The Honolulu Advertiser.'' A number of his stories were published in ''The Advertiser,'' in 1907 and 1908. In 1906, he was editor of the San Francisco ''The Argonaut''.<ref name="Death"/><ref name="Obituary"/>

In 1907, he founded the ''Newport Signal'', of Newport, Oregon.<ref>{{cite news|title=Newport Adds Weekly — Three Papers Now Issued in Town of Less than 1000 |url=http://infoweb.newsbank.com/resources/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_dat=document_id%3Aimage%252Fv2%253A11A73E5827618330%2540EANX-NB-11EDEE674BE3BF38%25402420664-11EDEE676D4DA418%25404-11EDEE685189DE40%2540Newport%2520Adds%2520Weekly.%2520Three%2520Papers%2520Now%2520Issued%2520in%2520Town%2520of%2520Less%2520than%25201000&rft_id=info%3Asid%2Finfoweb.newsbank.com&rft_val_format=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Actx&svc_dat=AMNEWS&req_dat=0D10F2CADB4B24C0 |newspaper=The Oregonian|location =Portland, OR|publication-date=June 13, 1915|page=5 col. 1|volume=55|number=17,022|publisher=Oregonian Pub. Co.}}</ref> He was also associated with ''The Oregonian'' and ''The Pacific Monthly.''

In 1907, Wilson corresponded by letter with author and editor Charles Warren Stoddard (1843–1909), when Stoddard was living in Monterey, California.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8p274b6/admin/?query=%22John%20Fleming%20Wilson%22#hitNum1 |title= Charles Warren Stoddard Collection|work= oac.cdlib.org|access-date=2022-07-21}}</ref>

===World War I=== Wilson served overseas in France with the 7th infantry battalion of the Canadian Army during World War I from 1917 to 1919. He was gassed by German shells. After the war he was a patient in a government hospital at Arrowhead Springs, San Bernardino. He then went to Martin's Sanitarium in Venice, California.<ref name="Obituary"/>

==Death== Wilson died from burns caused by a gas heater on March 5, 1922, at his home in Venice, at the age of 55.<ref name="Obituary">{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/105938580/obituary-for-john-fleming-wilson/|title=Noted Writer Dies From Burn|work=The San Francisco Examiner|place=San Francisco, California|date=March 6, 1922|page=13|access-date=2022-07-19}}</ref> His remains were brought to Hemet, California and funeral services were head at the San Jacinto Valley Cemetery in San Jacinto, California.<ref name="Death">{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/105944375/death/|title=John Fleming Wilson Is Burned to Death|work=The Honolulu Advertiser|place=Honolulu, Hawaii|date=March 6, 1922|page=1|access-date=2022-07-19}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist|2}}

==External links== {{commons category}} {{Wikisource|Author:John Fleming Wilson}} * [https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8rj4qnk/admin/?query=%22John%20Fleming%20Wilson%22#hitNum1 Fred Lockley Papers and Addenda: Finding Aid] * [https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8p274b6/admin/?query=%22John%20Fleming%20Wilson%22#hitNum1 Charles Warren Stoddard Collection: Finding Aid] * [https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0933640/otherworks?ref_=nm_pdt_wrk_sm John Fleming Wilson Other Works] * [https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0933640/ John Fleming Wilson Filmography] {{List of Historic Homes in Carmel Point}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, John Fleming}} Category:1877 births Category:1922 deaths Category:Writers from California Category:People from Erie, Pennsylvania Category:20th-century American writers Category:20th-century American male writers Category:American military personnel of World War I Category:Princeton University alumni Category:Radio operators