Everything about Winston Churchill Novelist totally explained
» This article discusses the novelist sometimes referred to as "Winston Churchill the American". For the British Prime Minister, see Winston Churchill and Winston Churchill as writer. - for other Churchills, see Churchill (disambiguation)
Winston Churchill (
November 10,
1871 -
March 12,
1947) was an
American novelist.
Biography
Churchill was born in
St. Louis, Missouri, the son of Edward Spalding and Emma Bell (Blaine) Churchill. He attended Smith Academy in Missouri and the
United States Naval Academy, where he graduated in
1894 and became an editor of the
Army and Navy Journal. He resigned from the
navy to pursue a writing career. While he'd be most successful as a
novelist, he was also a published
poet and
essayist.
While it's claimed that his first novel was
The Celebrity, published in
1898, a question arises where his novel called
Mr. Keegan's Elopement should be placed, because it was published two years earlier in (
1896) within a magazine. Later in
1903 it was republished as an illustrated hardback book.
Churchill's next novel called
Richard Carvel, was published the next year. It was a phenomenon, literally selling by the box-car as many as two million copies in a nation of only seventy-six million, and that book made Churchill rich. His next two novels,
The Crisis (1901) and
The Crossing (1904), were also very successful.
Churchill's early novels were historical but his later works were set in contemporary America. Churchill often sought to include his political ideas into his novels. Churchill wrote in the
naturalist style of literature, and some have called him the most influential of the American naturalists.
In
1899, Churchill moved to
Cornish, New Hampshire. He became involved in politics and was elected to the state legislature in
1903 and
1905. He unsuccessfully sought the
Republican nomination for
governor in
1906. In
1912, he was nominated as the
Progressive candidate for governor but didn't win the election. He didn't again seek office. In
1917, he toured the battlefields of
World War I and wrote about what he saw, his first non-fiction work.
Sometime after this move, he took up watercolors, and also became known for his landscapes. Works by him are in the collections of
Cornish Colony Museum in
Windsor, Vermont, Hood Museum of Art (part of
Hopkins Center for the Arts Dartmouth College) in
Hanover, New Hampshire, and
Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site in
Cornish, New Hampshire.
In
1919, Churchill decided to enter a prolonged period of self-reflection. He stopped writing and withdrew from public life. As a result of this he was gradually forgotten by the public. In
1940,
The Uncharted Way, his first book in twenty years, was published. The book was a reflection of Churchill's thoughts on religion. He didn't seek to publicize the book and it received little attention. Shortly before his death he said, "It is very difficult now for me to think of myself as a writer of novels, as all that seems to belong to another life."
Churchill died in
Winter Park, Florida in
1947. Churchill is the great-grandfather of Albany, New York, journalist Chris Churchill.
Confusion with the British statesman
Churchill met and occasionally communicated with his namesake, the British statesman and author
Winston Churchill (no relation). Unlikely as it now seems, it was the American Churchill who became famous earlier, and in the 1890's he was much better known than his British namesake. The two are still occasionally confused (principally by booksellers); although the
British Churchill wrote only one novel, being better known for his popular histories. Interestingly, both Winston Churchills had political careers, and were both noted amateur painters. The coincidences extend to their tertiary education - both attended service colleges - and were at one stage serving officers in their respective countries' armed forces.
The British Churchill, upon becoming aware of his namesake's books, wrote to him suggesting that he'd sign his own works "Winston S. Churchill", using his middle name, "Spencer", to differentiate them. This suggestion was accepted, with the comment that the American Churchill would have done the same, had he any middle names.
Bibliography
Novels
Other writings
Richard Carvel; Play produced on Broadway, (1900-1901)
The Crisis; Play produced on Broadway, (1902)
The Crossing; Play produced on Broadway, (1906)
The Title Mart; Play produced on Broadway, (1906)
A traveller in war-time; with an essay on the American contribution and the democratic idea (1918)
Dr. Jonathan; A play in three acts (1919)Further Information
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