Eric Knight
| Eric Knight | |
|---|---|
| Born | Eric Oswald Mowbray Knight 10 April 1897 Menston, West Yorkshire, England |
| Died | 15 January 1943 (aged 45) Dutch Guiana (later Suriname) |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Language | English |
| Nationality | British, American |
| Citizenship | American |
| Period | 1934–43 |
| Genre | Fiction |
| Notable works |
This Above All, Lassie Come-Home |
| Spouse | Dorothy Caroline Noyes Hall (m. 1917–32, divorced) Jere Brylawski (m. 1932–43, his death) |
Eric Oswald Mowbray Knight (April 10, 1897 in Menston in West Yorkshire, England – January 15, 1943 in Suriname) was an English novelist and screenwriter, who is mainly notable for creating the fictional collie Lassie. He took American citizenship in 1942 shortly before his death.
Born in West Yorkshire, England, Knight was the third of four sons born to Frederic Harrison and Marion Hilda (née Creasser) Knight, both Quakers. His father was a rich diamond merchant who, when Eric was two years old, was killed during the Boer War. His mother then moved to St. Petersburg, Russia, to work as a governess for the imperial family. She later settled in America.
Knight had a varied career, including service in the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry during World War I as a signaller then served as a captain of field artillery in the U. S. Army Reserve until 1926. His two brothers were both killed in World War I serving with the Pennsylvania Army National Guard. He did stints as an art student, newspaper reporter and Hollywood screenwriter.
He married twice, first on July 28, 1917, to Dorothy Caroline Noyes Hall, with whom he had three daughters and later divorced, and secondly to Jere Brylawski on December 2, 1932.
Knight's first novel was Invitation to Life (Greenberg, 1934). The second was Song on Your Bugles (1936) about the working class in Northern England. As "Richard Hallas", he wrote the hardboiled genre novel You Play The Black and The Red Comes Up (1938). Knight's This Above All is considered one of the significant novels of the Second World War. He also helped co-author the film, Battle of Britain in the "Why We Fight" Series under the direction of Frank Capra.
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