Arthur Stringer (February 26, 1874 – September 13, 1950) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

novelist, screenwriter, and poet who later moved to the United States. He published 45 works of fiction and 15 other books, in addition to writing filmscripts and articles."Arthur Stringer House"
London Public Library, Web, May 7, 2011.

Early life

Stringer was born in Chatham, Ontario. In 1884 the family moved to

London, Ontario London (pronounced ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River, approximat ...

, where Charles attended London Collegiate Institute. At the Institute he founded and edited a school magazine called ''Chips.'' He then attended

University College, University of Toronto University College, popularly referred to as UC, is a constituent college of the University of Toronto, created in 1853 specifically as an institution of higher learning free of religious affiliation. It was the founding member of the university ...

from 1892 to 1894 and later studied at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

Career

Stringer's first book of poetry, ''Watchers of Twilight and Other Poems,'' was published in 1894. In 1895 he worked for the ''

Montreal Herald This is a list of defunct newspapers of Quebec. 1770–1799 * ''La Gazette du commerce et littéraire pour la Ville & District de Montréal'', 1778, Montréal, Fleury Mesplet, printer, and Valentin Jautard, editor and journalist * '' La Gazette ...

''. At this time he was also publishing in ''

Saturday Night Saturday Night may refer to: Film, television and theatre Film * ''Saturday Night'' (1922 film), a 1922 film directed by Cecil B. DeMille * ''Saturday Nights'' (film), a 1933 Swedish film directed by Schamyl Bauman * ''Saturday Night'' (1950 fil ...

'' and the ''Canadian Magazine''. In 1898 he got a job with the American Press Association, moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

, and began publishing in ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'' and '' Harper's''. His first poem in ''Harper's'', "Remorse", appeared in February 1899.Profile at Harpers.org
May 8, 2011. His first novel, ''The Silver Poppy'', came out in 1903. In the same year he bought a farm on the shore of Lake Erie and married actress

Jobyna Howland Jobyna Howland (March 31, 1880 – June 7, 1936) was an American stage and screen actress. Early years Howland was born on March 31, 1880, in Indianapolis, Indiana. Her parents were Joby Howland, a Civil War veteran who at age 11 was one ...

, known as the original

Gibson girl The Gibson Girl was the personification of the feminine ideal of physical attractiveness as portrayed by the pen-and-ink illustrations of artist Charles Dana Gibson during a 20-year period that spanned the late 19th and early 20th centuries in t ...

. They divorced in 1914, and Stringer married his cousin, Margaret Arbuthnott. In 1921, the Stringers moved to

Mountain Lakes, New Jersey Mountain Lakes is a borough in Morris County, New Jersey, United States, and a suburb of New York City. As of the 2010 United States census, the borough's population was 4,160,"Stringer left his literary and cinematic mark"
Karen Robinet, ''Chatham This Week'', April 11, 2012 Stringer wrote

crime fiction Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professional detective, of a crime, ...

and wilderness

adventures An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme ...

, mainly using conventional formulae. He wrote as well in many other genres, from

social realism Social realism is the term used for work produced by painters, printmakers, photographers, writers and filmmakers that aims to draw attention to the real socio-political conditions of the working class as a means to critique the power structure ...

(his "Prairie" trilogy, 1915–1921) to

psychological fiction In literature, psychological fiction (also psychological realism) is a narrative genre that emphasizes interior characterization and motivation to explore the spiritual, emotional, and mental lives of the Character (arts), characters. The mode of ...

(''The Wine of Life'' (1921). He wrote early

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imagination, imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, Paral ...

novels, ''The Story Without a Name'' (1924) with Russell Holman, and ''The Woman Who Couldn't Die'' (1929).Arthur Stringer Summary Bibliography
International Science Fiction Database, ISFDB.com, May 8, 2011. Much of his writing was for films. Film scripts on which he worked include '' The Perils Of Pauline'' (1914), ''The Hand Of Peril'' (1916), ''The House Of Intrigue'' (1919), ''Unseeing Eyes'' (1923), ''Empty Hands'' (1924), ''The Canadian'' (1926), ''The Purchase Price'' (1932), ''The Lady Fights Back'' (1937), ''Buck Benny Rides Again'' (1940) and '' The Iron Claw'' (1941). Stringer remained a resident of New Jersey until his death in 1950, aged 76.

Writing

Fiction

Stringer's crime and adventure stories were later criticized as stereotypical and containing inaccurate representation of Canadian settings.D. Fetherling, "Stringer, Arthur John Arbuthnott", ''Canadian Encyclopedia'' (Edmonton: Hurtig, 1988) However, his prairie trilogy – ''Prairie Wife'' (1915), ''Prairie Mother'' (1920), and ''Prairie Child'' (1921) – has been called "an enduring contribution to Canadian literature." The trilogy uses a diary form to tell the tale of its narrator, a

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian province ...

socialite who marries a Scots-Canadian farmer.

Poetry

''The Oxford Companion to Canadian Literature'' described Stringer's poetry as "undistinguished verse."Arthur Stringer
, ''Oxford Companion to Canadian Literature,'' Answers.com, May 8, 2011 However, author John Garvin said of his poetry "there is maintained a standard of beauty, depth of feeling, and technical power, which in Canada have had all too little recognition."John W. Garvin,

" ''Canadian Poets'' (Toronto: McClelland, Goodchild & Stewart, 1916), p. 313, UPenn.edu, May 8, 2011. Garvin also similarly praised Stringer's

blank verse Blank verse is poetry written with regular metrical but unrhymed lines, almost always in iambic pentameter. It has been described as "probably the most common and influential form that English poetry has taken since the 16th century", and ...

drama ''Sappho in Leucadia''. Stringer's chief claim to poetic fame today rests on his 1914 book, ''Open Water'', the first book by a Canadian poet to use

free verse Free verse is an open form of poetry, which in its modern form arose through the French '' vers libre'' form. It does not use consistent meter patterns, rhyme, or any musical pattern. It thus tends to follow the rhythm of natural speech. Defini ...

; in its preface he proclaimed that the

modernist movement Modernism is both a philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new forms of art, philosophy, ...

of which he was part was a "natural evolution".

Louis Dudek Louis Dudek, (February 6, 1918 – March 23, 2001) was a Canadian poet, academic, and publisher known for his role in defining Modernism in poetry, and for his literary criticism. He was the author of over two dozen books. In ''A Digital Hist ...

and Michael Gnarowski, who reprinted the ''Open Water'' preface in their anthology ''The Making of Modern Poetry In Canada,'' remarked on it:

This book must be seen as a turning point in Canadian writing if only for the importance of the ideas advanced by Stringer in his preface. In a carefully presented, extremely well-informed account of traditional verse-making, Stringer pleaded the cause of free verse and created what must now be recognized as an early document of the struggle to free Canadian poetry from the trammels of end-rhyme, and to liberalize its methods and its substance.Ken Norris,
The Beginnings of Canadian Modernism
" ''Canadian Poetry: Studies/Documents/Reviews,'' No. 11 (Fall/Winter, 1982), Canadian Poetry, UWO.ca, March 25, 2011

Legacy

Stringer was awarded an honorary

D.Litt. Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or ') is a terminal degree in the humanities that, depending on the country, is a higher doctorate after the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree or equivalent to a higher doctorate, such as the Doctor ...

by the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a public research university in London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by residential neighbourhoods and the Thames Ri ...

in 1946. Stringer is commemorated by Arthur Stringer Public School in

, which opened in 1969.Roger Moran
"Arthur John Arbuthnott Stringer"
, ''Canadian Encyclopedia'', Dominion Institute, May 8, 2011. The house in which Stringer lived as a boy in London, Ontario has been preserved as a historic site, Arthur Stringer House.

Publications

Fiction

Geoffrey Dayton-Smith,
American Fiction, 1901-1925
'' (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge U P, 1997, 646-647, Google Books, Web, May 8, 2011. * ''The Silver Poppy''. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1903. * ''Lonely O'Malley: A Story of Boy Life''. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1905. * ''The Wire Tappers''. Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1906. * ''Phantom Wires''. Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1907. * ''The Under Groove''. New York: McClure Company, 1908. * ''The Gun-Runner.'' New York: B.W. Dodge & Co., 1909. * '' The Shadow''. New York: The Century Co., 1913. * ''Never-Fail Blake'' Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, c.1913. * ''The Prairie Wife'' Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, c.1915. * ''The Hand of Peril.'' New York: Macmillan, April 1915. * ''The Door of Dread: A Secret Service Romance.'' Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, c.1916. * ''The House of Intrigue''. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, c.1918. * ''The Man Who Couldn't Sleep.'' Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, c.1919. * '' The Prairie Mother.'' Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, c.1920. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1920. * ''Twin Tales: "Are All Men Alike" and "The Lost Titian".'' Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, c.1921. * ''The Wine of Life''. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1921. * ''The Prairie Child.'' Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, c.1922. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1923. * ''The Diamond Thieves.'' Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, c.1923. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1925. * '' The City of Peril''. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1923. * '' Empty Hands''. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, c.1924. * and Russell Holman. ''Manhandled.'' (Illustrated with scenes from the photoplay). New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1924. * and Russell Holman. ''The Story Without a Name.'' (Illustrated with scenes from the photoplay). New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1924. * ''Power''. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, c.1925. * ''In Bad With Sinbad''. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1926. * ''Night Hawk. A Novel''. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1926. * ''White Hands.'' Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1927. * '' The Wolf Woman''. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1927. * ''Cristina and I'' Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1929. * ''The Woman Who Couldn't Die''. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1929. * ''A Lady Quite Lost''. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1931. * ''The Mud Lark''. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1932. * ''Dark Soil''. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1933. * ''Marriage by Capture.'' Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1933. * ''Man Lost.'' Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1934. * ''The Wife Traders: A Tale of the North''. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1936. * ''Heather of the High Hand: A Novel of the North.'' Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1937. * ''The Lamp In the Valley''. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1938. * ''The Dark Wing.'' Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1939. * ''The Ghost Plane: A Novel of the North''. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1940. * ''A King Who Loved Old Clothes''. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1941. * ''Intruders in Eden.'' Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1942. * ''Shadowed Victory''. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1943. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1944.Author Search: Arthur Stringer
Open Library, Web, May 7, 2011. * ''Star in a Mist.'' Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1943. * ''The Devastator.'' Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1944.

Non-fiction

* ''A Study of King Lear''. New York, 1897. * ''Red Wine of Youth: A Life of Rupert Brooke'', 1921.

Poetry

* ''Watchers of Twilight, and Other Poems''. London, ON: T.H. Warren,

1894 Events January–March * January 4 – A military alliance is established between the French Third Republic and the Russian Empire. * January 7 – William Kennedy Dickson receives a patent for motion picture film in the United S ...

. * ''Pauline and Other Poems.'' London, ON: T.H. Warren,

1895 Events January–March * January 5 – Dreyfus affair: French officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his army rank, and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island. * January 12 – The National Trust for Places of Histor ...

. * ''The Loom of Destiny''. Boston: Small, Maynard, 1899. * ''The Woman in the Rain, and Other Poems''. Boston: Little, Brown & Co.,

1907 Events January * January 14 – 1907 Kingston earthquake: A 6.5 Moment magnitude scale, Mw earthquake in Kingston, Jamaica, kills between 800 and 1,000. February * February 11 – The French warship French cruiser Jean Bart ( ...

. 1949. * ''Irish Poems''. New York: Mitchell Kennerley,

1911 A notable ongoing event was the race for the South Pole. Events January * January 1 – A decade after federation, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory are added to the Commonwealth of Australia. * Ja ...

. ** ''Out of Erin (Songs in Exile).'' Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1930. * ''Open Water''. London: John Lane Co.,

1914 This year saw the beginning of what became known as World War I, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip. It also saw the first airline to provide schedule ...

. * ''A Woman at Dusk and Other Poems''. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill,

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly proving the existence of DNA. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris Bazhano ...

. * ''The Old Woman Remembers and Other Irish Poems''. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1938. * ''New York Nocturnes.'' Toronto: Ryerson P,

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...

Plays

* ''Hephaestus: Persephone At Enna And Sappho In Leucadia''. 1903 *''The Cleverest Woman In the World and Other One-Act Dramas''. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1939.

Filmography

The following 22 movies were based on fiction by Arthur Stringer: * 1912 ''The Man Who Made Good'' (short) (story) * 1914 ''The Case of Cherry Purcelle'' (short) (story) * 1916 ''The Secret Agent'' (short) (story) * 1916 ''The Breaker'' (story) * 1916 '' The Hand of Peril'' (novel ''The Hand of Peril: A Novel of Adventure'') * 1918 ''From Two to Six'' (story "The Button Thief") * 1919 ''The House of Intrigue'' (novel) * 1920 ''

Are All Men Alike? ''Are All Men Alike?'' is a lost 1920 American silent comedy-drama film directed by Phil Rosen. It stars May Allison, Wallace MacDonald, and John Elliott, and was released on November 8, 1920. Plot Theodora Hayden, who gave herself the nickn ...

'' (story "The Waffle Iron") * 1923 ''

Unseeing Eyes ''Unseeing Eyes'' is a lost 1923 American silent north country drama film produced by William Randolph Hearst and distributed by Goldwyn Pictures. Edward H. Griffith directed Lionel Barrymore, Seena Owen, Louis Wolheim, and Gustav von Seyfferti ...

'' (story "Snowblind") * 1924 '' Manhandled'' (story) * 1924 ''

The Story Without a Name ''The Story Without a Name'' is a 1924 American silent melodrama film directed by Irvin Willat and based on a novel by Arthur Stringer, which was published in conjunction with the film. It was produced by Famous Players-Lasky and distributed by ...

'' (novel) * 1924 ''

Empty Hands ''Empty Hands'' is a 1924 American silent romantic drama film directed by Victor Fleming, and starring Jack Holt and Norma Shearer. The film was produced by the Famous Players-Lasky and distributed by Paramount Pictures. Cast Preservation ...

'' (story) * 1925 ''

The Prairie Wife ''The Prairie Wife'' is a 1925 American silent Western film directed by Hugo Ballin and featuring Boris Karloff, and based on a story by Arthur Stringer. The film is considered to be lost. Plot As described in a film magazine review, a teleg ...

'' (story) * 1925 ''

Womanhandled ''Womanhandled'' is a 1925 American silent comedy film produced by Famous Players-Lasky and distributed through Paramount Pictures. It is based on a short story by Arthur Stringer and stars Richard Dix and Esther Ralston. Plot Bill Dana (Ric ...

'' (story) * 1926 ''

The Canadian ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...

'' (story and scenario) * 1926 ''The Wilderness Woman'' (scenario / story) * 1926 ''Out of the Storm'' (story "The Travis Coup") * 1928 ''

Half a Bride ''Half a Bride'' is a 1928 American silent romance film directed by Gregory La Cava and starring Esther Ralston, Gary Cooper, and William Worthington. Based on the short story "White Hands" by Arthur Stringer, and written by Doris Anderson, Per ...

'' (story "White Hands") * 1932 ''

The Purchase Price ''The Purchase Price'' is a 1932 pre-Code American romantic drama film directed by William Wellman and starring Barbara Stanwyck, George Brent and Lyle Talbot. Adapted from the novel by Arthur Stringer, with a screenplay by Robert Lord, the f ...

'' (story "The Mud Lark") * 1937 ''The Lady Fights Back'' (novel "Heather of the High Hand") * 1940 ''

Buck Benny Rides Again ''Buck Benny Rides Again'' is a 1940 American Western comedy film from Paramount Pictures starring Jack Benny and Ellen Drew. The film featured regulars from Benny's radio show including Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson, Andy Devine, Phil Harris, and ...

'' (story) * 1941 '' The Iron Claw'' (story)

References

External links

* * * *
Works by Arthur Stringer
at Digital Archive (

Toronto Public Library Toronto Public Library (TPL) (french: Bibliothèque publique de Toronto) is a public library system in Toronto, Ontario. It is the largest public library system in Canada, and in 2008 had averaged a higher circulation per capita than any other pub ...

)
Arthur Stringer in ''Harper's Magazine''
- 16 poems. * *

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stringer, Arthur John Arbuthnott 1874 births 1950 deaths 20th-century Canadian male writers 20th-century Canadian novelists 20th-century Canadian poets Canadian expatriates in the United States Canadian male poets Canadian male novelists Canadian modernist poets People from Chatham-Kent University of Toronto alumni