Frank L. Packard
Frank L. Packard was a Canadian novelist and mystery serial writer, born on February 2, 1877, in Montreal, Quebec. He studied at McGill University before pursuing a career in writing, often drawing inspiration from his experiences working for the Canadian Pacific Railway. His narratives frequently centered around the adventures and lives of railway workers, with notable stories like "Shanley's Luck," which was inspired by the CPR Beavermouth Riot of 1885.
Packard is perhaps best known for creating the character Jimmie Dale, a gentleman thief whose exploits revealed societal corruption in early 20th-century New York City. The Adventures of Jimmie Dale was published in 1917, and the series consists of over twenty-four stories that captivated readers and influenced later fictional heroes. His work, characterized by clever thieves and swindlers as protagonists, positioned him among the "Rogue Writers," a group celebrated for their suspenseful and entertaining tales. In addition to the Jimmie Dale saga, Packard authored other novels, including The Miracle Man and The White Moll. Despite his passing in 1942, his literary legacy endures, resonating with readers and shaping the genre of adventure and mystery fiction.
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Subject Terms
Frank L. Packard
Writer
- Born: February 2, 1877
- Birthplace: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- Died: February 17, 1942
- Place of death: Lachine, Quebec, Canada
Biography
Mystery serial writer and novelist Frank Lucius Packard was born Febuary 2, 1877, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He attended Montreal’s McGill University but traveled south to his parents’ native United States to publish his work.
Packard spent much of his life working as an employee for the Canadian Pacific Railway; consequently, a great number of his serials reflected the life and close community of people working for the railway. His stories concerning the railroad were mostly adventures. One popular railroad story, “Shanley’s Luck,” was based on the CPR Beavermouth Riot that temporarily halted construction in 1885. When he was not penning adventures and mysteries, the writer also worked as a civil engineer and engraver.
His serials were published in People Magazine, the Popular Magazine, Argosy All-Story Weekly, Railroad Magazine, the Cavalier, and numerous other publications. The writer’s best-selling work was his stories about the proper gentleman thief, Jimmie Dale. The gentleman thief’s first adventure was published in People Magazine and soon enough short stories became novels. The Adventures of Jimmie Dale was published in 1917, with a second novel chronicling Dale’s adventures two years later. Three more novelizations of his serials followed throughout the remainder of Packard’s career.
His Jimmie Dale series consisted of more than twenty-four tales as the gentleman by day and thief by night exposed society’s corruption in New York City. Jimmie Dale’s secret alter ego, the Gray Seal, and the author’s contemporaries helped set the ground work for later popular fiction’s conflicted heroes and their alter egos such as Superman and the many caped crusaders that followed. His popular Jimmie Dale Saga ranked him near the top of his class of authors dubbed the Rogue Writers for their comic and suspense-filled tales of clever thieves and swindlers as heroes working to defend the innocent. His other novels include The Miracle Man, The Sin that Was His, The White Moll, and From Now On.
Despite Frank L. Packard’s 1942 death in Lachine, Quebec, his work remained to influence adventures and mysteries that followed enrapturing generation after generation of readers with what the Rogues began.