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Percy Keese Fitzhugh (September 7, 1876 – July 5, 1950) was an American writer of nearly 100 books for children and young adults.


Biography

Percy Keese Fitzhugh was born in
Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
,
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
. He attended
Pratt Institute Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York. It has an additional campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The institute was founded in 18 ...
in Brooklyn. Records do not indicate that he graduated. He married Harriet (Hatti) Lloyd LePorte on July 13, 1900 in
Kingston, Massachusetts Kingston is a coastal town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 13,708 at the 2020 census. History Before European settlers arrived, Kingston was within the tribal homeland of the Wampanoag people. Several years ...
. Fitzhugh's first known work, ''The Goldenrod Story Book'' was published in 1906. The bulk of his work, having a
Boy Scout A Scout, Boy Scout, Girl Scout or, in some countries, a Pathfinder is a participant in the Scout Movement, usually aged 10–18 years, who engage in learning scoutcraft and outdoor and other special interest activities. Some Scout organizatio ...
ing theme, revolves around the fictional town of Bridgeboro, New Jersey. Major characters included Tom Slade,
Pee-Wee Harris Walter "Pee-wee" Harris is a fictional Boy Scout who has appeared in several series of boy's books by Percy Keese Fitzhugh as well as in a long-running comic strip in the magazine ''Boys' Life''. Originally spelled "Pee-wee", his name has occasiona ...
, Roy Blakeley, and Westy Martin. Each of these characters had their own, distinctly different, series of books. In addition, Fitzhugh contributed Boy Scout stories to a fifth series of books, ''Buddy Books for Boys'', which featured individual stories of other characters and situations by a variety of authors. In all,
Grosset & Dunlap Grosset & Dunlap is a New York City-based publishing house founded in 1898. The company was purchased by G. P. Putnam's Sons in 1982 and today is part of Penguin Random House through its subsidiary Penguin Group. In recent years, through the P ...
published nearly 70 different Fitzhugh titles in these 5 series. Although there really is a New Jersey town named Bridgeboro, the model for Fitzhugh’s Bridgeboro was his own home town of
Hackensack, New Jersey Hackensack is the most populous municipality in and the county seat of Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.
. Many of the places and features of the fictional Bridgeboro actually do (or did) exist in and around Hackensack. In addition, Fitzhugh's inspiration for his Boy Scout characters came from several of the boys in the local Scout Troop. While Fitzhugh’s characters were involved in adventures that were exciting, they were always plausible. The Roy Blakeley series in particular also featured humorous dialog among its characters that was surprisingly irreverent for its time (one Roy Blakeley book turned on a quixotic hike where the characters were only allowed to turn in one direction, resulting in the characters circling the same lake repeatedly for several chapters before any action took place). These aspects of his stories boosted their popularity and added a component of depth and realism that was lacking in many of the other so called "boys’ series books" of the day. Nearly all of Fitzhugh’s Boy Scout books bore the official seal of approval of the BSA. Fitzhugh’s Scouting based books were very popular with children and adults. His characters became so real to his readers that it was not uncommon for Percy to receive fan mail addressed to the characters themselves. Fitzhugh's contribution to the growth and popularity of the Scouting movement can never be measured, but it is widely held that many thousands of boys joined the Scouts because of his writings. His "Pee-wee Harris" character is still being featured in a comic strip in
Boys' Life ''Scout Life'' (formerly ''Boys' Life'') is the monthly magazine of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). Its target readers are children between the ages of 6 and 18. The magazine‘s headquarters are in Irving, Texas. ''Scout Life'' is published ...
, the official magazine of the Boy Scouts of America, more than seventy years after Fitzhugh's death. In the 1930s, as the popularity of Fitzhugh’s Scouting stories began to wane, he began writing the ''Hal Keen Mystery Series'' (10 titles) under the pseudonym Hugh Lloyd, also published by Grosset & Dunlap. The Hal Keen books were followed by another mystery series - ''Skippy Dare'' - (3 titles- G&D). Neither of these series achieved the popularity of his earlier Boy Scout work. Percy Keese Fitzhugh died at his home in
Oradell, New Jersey Oradell is a borough in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 8,244, an increase of 266 (+3.3%) from the 2010 census count of 7,978, which in turn reflected a decline ...
on July 5, 1950 from complications related to a long illness; he was 73.


See also


References


External links


Fitzhugh Fanpage
* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fitzhugh, Percy 1876 births 1950 deaths American children's writers Writers from Hackensack, New Jersey People from Oradell, New Jersey