Opie Percival Read (born December 22, 1852, Nashville Tennessee; d. November 2, 1939,

Chicago Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

) was an American

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

and

humorist A humorist is an intellectual who uses humor, or wit, in writing or public speaking. A raconteur is one who tells anecdotes in a skillful and amusing way. Henri Bergson writes that a humorist's work grows from viewing the morals of society ...

. His bibliography lists 60 published

book A book is a structured presentation of recorded information, primarily verbal and graphical, through a medium. Originally physical, electronic books and audiobooks are now existent. Physical books are objects that contain printed material, ...

As a journalist

Prior to 1887, Opie Read edited five separate newspapers, all in the U.S. South: the ''Statesville Argus'', the '' Bowling Green Pantograph'', and the Louisville ''

Courier-Journal The ''Courier Journal'', also known as the ''Louisville Courier Journal'' (and informally ''The C-J'' or ''The Courier''), and called ''The Courier-Journal'' between November 8, 1868, and October 29, 2017, is a daily newspaper published in ...

'', all in Kentucky, as well as the ''Evening Post'', and ''Gazette'' in Little Rock, Arkansas. The Gazette was a predecessor of the ''

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette The ''Arkansas Democrat-Gazette'' is the newspaper of record in the U.S. state of Arkansas, printed in Little Rock with a northwest edition published in Lowell. It is distributed for sale in all 75 of Arkansas's counties. By virtue of one ...

''. In 1882, Read founded his own humor magazine, the '' Arkansas Traveler'', which he carried on after leaving newspaper journalism in 1887.

As a novelist

Read brought the ''Arkansas Traveler'', a flowing pen, and a command of Southern dialect to Chicago in 1887. He spent the remainder of his life in the ”Windy City” (Chicago). Read's bibliography shows that in his first 20 full years in Chicago (1888–1908) he published 54 separate books, of which 31 were

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

s, 18 were book-length compilations of

short fiction A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

such as that published in the ''Arkansas Traveler'', and five were works of

non-fiction Non-fiction (or nonfiction) is any document or content (media), media content that attempts, in good faith, to convey information only about the real life, real world, rather than being grounded in imagination. Non-fiction typically aims to pre ...

. As a novelist, Read is credited with bringing the phrase " There's a sucker born every minute" into print in his 1898 novel ''A Yankee from the West'', although the phrase seems to have been in verbal use before this and is often credited to

P.T. Barnum Phineas Taylor Barnum (July 5, 1810 – April 7, 1891) was an American showman, businessman, and politician remembered for promoting celebrated hoaxes and founding with James Anthony Bailey the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. He w ...

. After 1908, Read appears to have gone into semi-retirement. His authorial productivity noticeably slackened during the thirty remaining years of his life, although he did publish six additional books (two of them juveniles).

His reputation

Read's works included '' A Kentucky Colonel'' ( Laird & Lee, 1890), '' The Jucklins'' (1896), and '' Opie Read in the Ozarks: Including Many of the Rich, Rare, Quaint, Eccentric, Ignorant and Superstitious Sayings of the Natives of Missouri and Arkansaw'' (1905). Read's standing was affected by the fact that many of his works, such as '' The Jucklins'', were published as

dime novel The dime novel is a form of late 19th-century and early 20th-century American popular fiction issued in series of inexpensive paperbound editions. The term ''dime novel'' has been used as a catchall term for several different but related form ...

s. Many later critics have dismissed Read as a presenter of lower-class white Southern

stereotype In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalization, generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can ...

s for middle-class Northerners.

Works

* ''Up Terrapin River'' (1888) * ''Len Gamsett'' (1888) F.J. Schulte, Chicago * ''A Kentucky Colonel'' (1890) * ''Emmett Bonlore'' (1891) * ''Toothpick Tales'' (1892) * ''The Colossus'' (1893) * '' Tennessee Judge'' (1893) * ''The Wives of the Prophet'' (1894) * ''On the Suwanee River'' (1895) * '' The Jucklins'' (1896) * ''My Young Master'' (1896) * ''An Arkansas Planter'' (1896) * ''The Tear in the Cup and Other Stories'' (1896) Laird & Lee * ''Bolanyo'' (1897) * ''Odd Folks'' (1897) * ''Old Ebenezer'' (1897) * ''A Yankee from the West'' (1898) adapted to film in 1915. * ''The Waters of Caney Fork'' (1898) * ''Judge Elbridge'' (1899) * ''The Carpetbagger'' (1899) with

Frank S. Pixley Frank S. Pixley (November 21, 1865 or 1867 - 1919) was an educator, newspaper editor, playwright and lyricist. He partnered with Gustav Luders, Pixley writing words and lyrics and Luders the music for several shows. ''American Musical Produ ...

, it was adapted to the stage in 1900 * ''In the Alamo'' (1900) * ''The Starbucks'' (1902) * ''The Harkriders'' (1903) * ''The American Cavalier'' (1904) * ''Turk'' (1904) Laird & Lee, later republished as ''"Turkey Egg" Griffin'' *''Opie Read in the Ozarks; Including Many of the Rich, Rare, Quaint, Eccentric, Ignorant and Superstitious Sayings of the Natives of Missouri and Arkansaw'' (1905) * ''The Son of the Swordmaker'' (1905) * ''Old Lim Jucklin: The Opinions Of An Open-Air Philosopher'' (1905) * ''An American in New York: A Novel of To-day'' (1905) Thompson & Thomas * ''The Mystery of Margaret'' (1907) * ''Confessions of a Negro Preacher'' (1928), published anonymously it is sometimes credited to Read

Filmography

*'' The Starbucks'' (1912) *'' A Yankee from the West'' (1915) *'' Almost a Husband'' (1919) *'' The Kentucky Colonel'' (1920) *'' The Jucklins'' (1920), produced and directed by George Medford with

Mabel Julienne Scott Mabel Julienne Scott (November 2, 1892 – October 1, 1976) was an American stage and silent movie actress. Biography Scott was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Joseph and Martie Scott, of French and Norwegian heritage. A graduate of ...

Monte Blue Gerard Montgomery Blue (January 11, 1887 – February 18, 1963) was an American film actor who began his career as a romantic lead in the silent era; and for decades after the advent of sound, he continued to perform as a supporting player ...

, Ruth Renock, Charles Ogle, and Fanny Midgel. *'' The Wives of the Prophet'' (1926)

References

External links

Opie Read biography at University of Tennessee - Chattanooga
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Read, Opie 1852 births 1939 deaths Journalists from Nashville, Tennessee Journalists from Chicago Writers from Tennessee American male journalists American humorists Dime novelists