Harold Bell Wright was born in Sullivan County, Tennessee, in 1872. He was an avid reader from a young age, particularly of the ancient classics. Encouraged by his mother, he entered college for a short time at Tennessee Agricultural and Mechanical College in Nashville. He then went on to study law at the University of Alabama and received his degree in 1897.
In 1900, Wright moved to Chicago where he began working as a journalist, writing travel articles for newspapers and magazines
Read more
In 1903 he married Helen Dickson, daughter of the former mayor of Rockford, Illinois.
In 1907 Wright published his first novel A Man from Missouri, which was followed by twelve more novels including The Shepherd of the Hills (1910), A Daughter of the Hills (1911), The Great Plains (1912), and The Valley of the Lost (1914). A Daughter of the Hills was awarded a prize from the National Board for Geographic Education.
In 1915 Harold Bell Wright's best-selling book Jesse James became the best-selling Western novel of all time, and remains so even today.
Wright's most famous work is The Day of the Dragon (1936), which is based on his experiences as a prisoner of war during World War I. Later, he wrote two autobiographical books: The Midas Touch (1940) and Have Faith in America (1950).
Harold Bell Wright died on October 9, 1951 and is buried in Oak Ridge Cemetery in Rockford, Illinois.