John Phillips Marquand (November 10, 1893 – July 16, 1960) was an American writer. Originally best known for his Mr. Moto spy stories, he achieved popular success and critical respect for his satirical novels, winning a

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

for ''

The Late George Apley ''The Late George Apley'' is a 1937 novel by John Phillips Marquand. It is a satire of Boston's upper class in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The title character is a Harvard University-educated WASP living on Beacon Hill in downto ...

'' in 1938. One of his abiding themes was the confining nature of life in America's upper class and among those who aspired to join it. Marquand treated those whose lives were bound by these unwritten codes with a characteristic mix of respect and

satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of exposin ...

Early life and education

Marquand was born on November 10, 1893, in

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington is the List of municipalities in Delaware, most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North America. It lie ...

, the son of Philip Marquand and his wife Margaret née Fuller. His mother was a great-niece of 19th-century transcendentalist and feminist

Margaret Fuller Sarah Margaret Fuller (May 23, 1810 – July 19, 1850), sometimes referred to as Margaret Fuller Ossoli, was an American journalist, editor, critic, translator, and women's rights advocate associated with the American transcendentalism movemen ...

. Marquand was also a cousin of

Buckminster Fuller Richard Buckminster Fuller (; July 12, 1895 – July 1, 1983) was an American architect, systems theorist, writer, designer, inventor, philosopher, and futurist. He styled his name as R. Buckminster Fuller in his writings, publishing more t ...

. He grew up in

Newburyport, Massachusetts Newburyport is a coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, northeast of Boston. The population was 18,289 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. A historic seaport with a vibrant tourism industry, Newburyport includes p ...

, where his forebears had lived, raised by his three maiden aunts, while his parents lived in a number of other cities as his father pursued his career. Marquand attended

Newburyport High School Newburyport High School (NHS) is a public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades in Newburyport, Massachusetts, United States and is part of the Newburyport Public School System. It was established in 1831 and is one of t ...

, where he won a scholarship that enabled him to attend

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

, where his family had a long tradition of attendance. As an impecunious public school graduate in the heyday of Harvard's Gold Coast, however, he was seen as an unclubbable outsider. After being turned down by the ''

Harvard Crimson The Harvard Crimson is the nickname of the college sports teams of Harvard College. The school's teams compete in NCAA Division I. As of 2013, there were 42 Division I intercollegiate Varsity team, varsity sports teams for women and men at Harva ...

'', Harvard's student newspaper, Marquand succeeded in being elected to the editorial board of the humor magazine, the ''

Harvard Lampoon ''The Harvard Lampoon'' is an undergraduate humor publication founded in 1876 by seven undergraduates at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Overview The ''Harvard Lampoon'' publication was founded in 1876 by seven undergraduate ...

''.

Career

''Boston Evening Transcript''

After graduating from Harvard in 1915, Marquand was hired by '' The Boston Evening Transcript'', working initially as a reporter and later on the ''Transcript's'' bi-weekly magazine section.

World War I

While he was a student at Harvard, Marquand joined Battery A of the

Massachusetts National Guard The Massachusetts National Guard is the United States National Guard, National Guard component for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded as the Massachusetts militia, Massachusetts Bay Colonial Militia on December 13, 1636, it contains the ...

, which, in 1916, was activated. In July 1916, Marquand was sent to the Mexican border. Later, like many of his classmates, he served in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, where he was engaged in combat in France.

Writing career

Marquand's life and work reflected his ambivalence about American society and especially the power of its old-line elites. Being rebuffed by fashionable Harvard did not discourage his social aspirations. In 1922, he married Christina Sedgwick, niece of ''

Atlantic Monthly ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 ...

'' editor

Ellery Sedgwick Ellery Sedgwick (February 27, 1872 – April 21, 1960) was an American editor, brother of Henry Dwight Sedgwick. Early life He was born in New York City to Henry Dwight Sedgwick II and Henrietta Ellery (Sedgwick), grand daughter of William E ...

. In 1925, Marquand published his first book, ''Lord Timothy Dexter'', an exploration of the life and legend of 18th-century Newburyport eccentric Timothy Dexter (1763–1806). By the mid-1930s, he was a prolific and successful writer of fiction for slick magazines like the ''

Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine published six times a year. It was published weekly from 1897 until 1963, and then every other week until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely circulated and influ ...

''. Some of these short stories were of an historical nature as had been Marquand's first two novels, ''The Unspeakable Gentleman'' and ''The Black Cargo'', which were later characterized by Marquand as "costume fiction", to which he stated that an author "can only approximate provided he has been steeped in the tradition". By the mid-1930s, Marquand abandoned "costume fiction". In the late 1930s, Marquand began producing a series of novels on the dilemmas of class, most of which centered on

New England New England is a region consisting of 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 (state), New York to the west and by the ...

, and some of which were partially set in Clyde, Massachusetts, a fictional seaside community based strongly on Marquand's home town of Newburyport. The first of these novels, ''

'' (1937), a satire of

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

's upper class, won the

Pulitzer Prize for the Novel The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It recognizes distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life, published during ...

in 1938. Other Marquand novels exploring New England and class themes include ''Wickford Point'' (1939), ''H.M. Pulham, Esquire'' (1941), and ''Point of No Return'' (1949). The last is especially notable for its satirical portrayal of Harvard anthropologist W. Lloyd Warner, whose Yankee City study attempted (and in Marquand's view, dismally failed) to describe and analyze the manners and mores of Newburyport. Marquand was a part-time war correspondent during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The war's huge impact on American citizens and families is an element in his later novels. Several characters in these novels are motivated by a sense of duty to aid the war effort, though they are past draft age and unsure of the value of their contribution. For all of his ambivalence about America's elite, Marquand ultimately succeeded in joining it and in embodying its characteristics. He forgave the upper crust classmates who snubbed him as a Harvard student, relationships he satirized in ''H.M. Pulham, Esq ''and ''

''. He was invited to join all the prestigious social clubs in Boston, including Tavern and Somerset, and those in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, including the

Century Association The Century Association is a private social, arts, and dining club in New York City, founded in 1847. Its clubhouse is located at 7 West 43rd Street near Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. It is primarily a club for men and women with distinctio ...

. Through his second marriage to Adelaide Ferry Hooker, he became linked to the Rockefeller family. Her sister, Blanchette, was married to John D. Rockefeller III. He maintained luxury homes in Newburyport and in the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

Personal life

Marquand was married twice and had five children. He married Christina Sedgwick in 1922, and they had two children: son John Jr and daughter Christina Jr. Marquand and Sedgwick divorced in 1935. The following year, Marquand married Adelaide Ferry Hooker, a descendant of

Connecticut Colony The Connecticut Colony, originally known as the Connecticut River Colony, was an English colony in New England which later became the state of Connecticut. It was organized on March 3, 1636, as a settlement for a Puritans, Puritan congregation o ...

founder

Thomas Hooker Thomas Hooker (July 5, 1586 – July 7, 1647) was a prominent English colonial leader and Congregational church, Congregational minister, who founded the Connecticut Colony after dissenting with Puritan leaders in Massachusetts. He was know ...

. They had three children together, two sons and a daughter, before divorcing in 1958.

Death

On July 16, 1960, Marquand died in

, of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

in his sleep at the age of 66. He is buried in Sawyer Hill Burying Ground in Newburyport.

Novels

Mr Moto novels

*'' No Hero''. Boston, Little Brown, 1935; as ''Mr. Moto Takes a Hand'', London, Hale, 1940; as ''Your Turn, Mr. Moto'', New York, Berkley, 1963 *'' Thank You, Mr. Moto''. Boston, Little Brown, 1936; London, Jenkins, 1937 *''

Think Fast, Mr. Moto ''Think Fast, Mr. Moto'' is a 1937 American mystery film directed by Norman Foster and featuring a mysterious Japanese detective named Mr. Moto. It is the first of eight films in the Mr. Moto series, all based on the character Mr. Moto create ...

''. Boston, Little Brown, 1937; London, Hale, 1938 *''

Mr. Moto Is So Sorry ''Mr. Moto Is So Sorry'' was originally published in serial form in the ''Saturday Evening Post'' from July 2 to August 13, 1938, and was first published in book form in 1938. It is the fourth of six Mr. Moto novels and can also be found in the ...

''. Boston, Little Brown, 1938; London, Hale, 1939 *''

Last Laugh, Mr. Moto ''Last Laugh, Mr Moto'' is a 1942 Mr Moto novel by John P. Marquand. Marquand had not written a Moto novel for a number of years. He wrote one again in 1941, prior to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso ...

''. Boston, Little Brown, 1942; London, Hale, 1943 *'' Stopover Tokyo''. Boston, Little Brown, and London, Collins, 1957; as ''The Last of Mr. Moto'', New York, Berkley, 1963; as ''Right You Are, Mr. Moto'', New York, Popular Library, 1977

Other crime novels

*''Ming Yellow''. Boston, Little Brown, and London, Lovat Dickson, 1935 *''Don't Ask Questions''. London, Hale, 1941 *''It's Loaded, Mr. Bauer''. London, Hale, 1949

Literary novels

*''The Unspeakable Gentleman''. New York, Scribner, and London, Hodder and Stoughton, 1922 *''The Black Cargo''. New York, Scribner, and London, Hodder and Stoughton, 1925 *''Warning Hill''. Boston, Little Brown, 1930. *''

''. Boston, Little Brown, 1937 *''Wickford Point''. Boston, Little Brown, 1939 *'' H.M. Pulham, Esq.''. Boston, Little Brown, and London, Hale, 1942 *''So Little Time''. Boston, Little Brown, 1943; London, Hale, 1944 *''Repent in Haste''. Boston, Little Brown, 1945 *''

B.F.'s Daughter ''B.F.'s Daughter'' is a 1948 drama film directed by Robert Z. Leonard and starring Barbara Stanwyck and Van Heflin. It was adapted from John P. Marquand's 1946 novel of the same name, about a prominent couple whose marital tensions come to a boi ...

''. Boston, Little Brown, 1946; as ''Polly Fulton'', London, Hale, 1947 *''Point of No Return''. Boston, Little Brown, and London, Hale, 1949 *''Melville Goodwin, USA''. Boston, Little Brown, 1951; London, Hale, 1952 *''Sincerely, Willis Wayde''. Boston, Little Brown, and London, Hale, 1955 *''Women and Thomas Harrow''. Boston, Little Brown, 1958; London, Collins, 1959 ''The Late George Apley'', ''Wickford Point'', ''H.M. Pulham, Esquire'', ''So Little Time'', ''Repent in Haste'' and ''B.F.'s Daughter'' were published as

Armed Services Editions Armed Services Editions (ASEs) were small paperback books of fiction and nonfiction that were distributed in the American military during World War II. From 1943 to 1947, some 122 million copies of more than 1,300 ASE titles were distributed to ...

during

. ''Do Tell Me, Doctor Johnson'' was privately printed in small numbers, 1928 (one story, 47 pages). A search of the '' eaders' Guide to Periodical Literature' indicates that Marquand had 111 short stories published in various magazines, mostly in the ''Saturday Evening Post'', from 1921 through 1947, of which 18 appear in ''Four of a Kind'', ''Haven's End'' and ''Thirty Years''.

Collections and short stories

*''Four of a Kind'', 1923 *''Haven's End''. Boston, Little Brown, 1933; London, Hale, 1938 *''Thirty Years'', 1954 *''Life at Happy Knoll'', 1957

Notes

References

* Stephen Birmingham, ''The Late John Marquand: A Biography'', J. B. Lippincott Company 1972. *Millicent Bell, ''Marquand: An American Life'', Little, Brown and Company, 1979.

External links

* * *
The Mr. Moto novels of John P. Marquand
website by James S. Koga.
John Marquand Society of North AmericaExtensive biography on MarquandPhotos of the first edition of ''The Late George Apley'' Yale University Library, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale Collection of American Literature, Copyright 1996-2007 by the Yale University Library. Guide to the John P. Marquand Collection, YCAL MSS 48, by T. Michael Womack, May 1990, Revised: 2010-02-10
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marquand, John P. 1893 births 1960 deaths 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American novelists American male novelists American male short story writers United States Army personnel of World War I American satirical novelists American spy fiction writers American Unitarians The Harvard Lampoon alumni Harvard College alumni National Guard (United States) officers Pulitzer Prize for the Novel winners Writers from Newburyport, Massachusetts Writers from Wilmington, Delaware Novelists from Massachusetts Massachusetts National Guard personnel