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John Laughery The Man Who Created Philo Vance 1910s
"S.S. van Dine was born Willard Huntington Wright on October 15, 1887. His parents operated hotels and he and his brothers were hotel children. In 1900 the Wrights' moved to Santa Monica and when finances improved to Los Angeles to be part-owner of the Astoria, a hotel in downtown Los Angeles. Willard's younger brother Stanton became a renowned painter and Willard decided to become a writer because he was better at that than his younger brother. At sixteen, in the fall of 1903, Willard started his college career first at St. Vincent's College and then Harvard by 1906. Kicked out of Harvard Willard got married to Katherine, the daughter of a newspaper publisher. Back in L.A. Willard looked for something to do and after a few false starts, he became a journalist for the Los Angeles Times. For the Times Willard began reviewing books, the best job for an aspiring writer. Lying about his "Harvard education" and his time in Europe studying art and literature, Willard became a rising star in literary circles. In 1909 Willard became a contributor for The West Coast Magazine, a California literary magazine. Willard became friends with H.L. Mencken who, in 1912, hired Willard as editor-in-chief for The Smart Set. With the move to New York City, while his wife and daughter stayed in California, Willard lived the good life. Through The Smart Set Willard challenged the morality of the times, but by 1914 he was out of a job. In 1915 his first book Modern Painting: Its Tendency and Meaning was published but it didn't sell, although it did help him to become an art reviewer. In 1917 Willard wrote the book Misinforming the Nation which was a critique of errors and prejudices of The Encyclopedia Britainnica. By 1919 Willard was back in California doing a weekly column about artistic events for The San Francisco Bulletin. But it didn't pan out and Willard returned to New York City where he did a variety of jobs as an art reviewer."