MacKinlay Kantor
| MacKinlay Kantor | |
|---|---|
.jpg)
Kantor in 1950
|
|
| Born | Benjamin McKinlay Kantor February 4, 1904 Webster City, Iowa, U.S. |
| Died | October 11, 1977 (aged 73) Sarasota, Florida, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Notable works | Andersonville (Pulitzer Prize) |
| Spouse | Florence Irene Layne |
| Children | Tim Kantor, Layne Kantor |
MacKinlay Kantor (February 4, 1904 – October 11, 1977), born Benjamin McKinlay Kantor, was an American journalist, novelist and screenwriter. He wrote more than 30 novels, several set during the American Civil War, and was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1956 for his 1955 novel, Andersonville. He also wrote the novel Gettysburg, set during the Civil War.
Benjamin McKinlay Kantor was born and grew up in Webster City, Iowa, the second child and only son in his family. He had a sister Virginia. His mother, Effie (McKinlay) Kantor, worked as the editor of the Webster City Daily News during part of his childhood. His father, John Martin Kantor, was a native-born Swedish Jew descended from "a long line of rabbis, who posed as a Protestant clergyman". His mother was of English, Irish, Scottish, and Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry. (Later, MacKinlay Kantor wrote an unpublished novel called Half Jew.) The boys were raised as Protestants. Kantor's father had trouble keeping jobs and abandoned the family before Benjamin was born. His mother returned to her parents in Webster City, Mr. and Mrs. Adam McKinlay, to live at their home with her children.
As a child, the boy started using his middle name McKinlay as his given name. He changed its spelling, adding an "a", because he thought it sounded more Scottish, and chose to be called "Mack" or MacKinlay. He attended the local schools and made full use of the Kendall Young Public Library, which he described as his "university". Mack Kantor won a writing contest with his first story "Purple".
Kantor married Florence Irene Layne, and they had two children together. Their son Tim Kantor wrote a biography/memoir of his father, titled My Father’s Voice: MacKinlay Kantor Long Remembered (1988).
From 1928 to 1934, Kantor wrote numerous stories for pulp fiction magazines, to earn a living and support his family; these works included crime stories and mysteries. He sold his first pulp stories, "Delivery Not Received" and "A Bad Night for Benny", to Edwin Baird, editor of Real Detective Tales and Mystery Stories. He also wrote for Detective Fiction Weekly. In 1928, Kantor published his first novel, Diversey, set in Chicago, Illinois.
...
Wikipedia