Henry A. Shute
Henry A. Shute was an American author and lawyer, born in 1856 in Exeter, New Hampshire. He grew up in a family connected to the Boston Custom House and pursued his education at Phillips Exeter Academy and Harvard University, where he studied languages and literature. After completing his legal apprenticeship, he embarked on a career in law, which he balanced with writing. Shute began crafting stories based on his childhood experiences, leading to the publication of his first book, *Adventures of Several Hard Characters*, in 1897. He gained significant acclaim with his 1902 work, *The Real Diary of a Real Boy*, which showcased his talent for depicting children's lives through a diary format. Throughout his career, Shute's stories appeared in notable magazines, and he became particularly recognized for his contributions to children's literature, earning the nickname "the Mark Twain of New England." He continued to write and practice law until the late 1930s, leaving a lasting legacy upon his death in 1943. His work reflects a blend of humor and realism, capturing the essence of life in Exeter and the experiences of youth.
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Subject Terms
Henry A. Shute
Writer
- Born: December 17, 1856
- Birthplace: Exeter, New Hampshire
- Died: January 5, 1943
Biography
Henry A. Shute was born in 1856 in Exeter, New Hampshire, the oldest child of George Shute, a clerk at the Boston Custom House, and Joanna Simpkins Shute. His hometown would later become the setting for his fiction. Shute attended Phillips Exeter Academy from 1872 to 1875, and then studied languages and literature at Harvard University, where he earned his degree in 1879. He subsequently returned to Exeter to study law under Judge William W. Stickney. Shute concluded his apprenticeship in 1882, passed the bar, and began his lifelong legal career.
In 1885, Shute married Amelia F. Weeks and the couple had two children, Dick, born in 1887, and Nathalie, born in 1894. Amelia died nine months after the birth of her daughter, and Shute remarried in 1897. With his second wife, Ella Kent, Shute may have had additional children, including a daughter named Doris.
During the 1890’s, Shute began writing stories of his boyhood, and they were published in the local newspaper, the Exeter News-Letter, between February and April, 1897. Later that year, the newspaper published the stories in book form as Adventures of Several Hard Characters. Though his sketches did not become immediately popular, Shute continued to write while he practiced law and served as a judge for the Exeter Police Court. In 1901, his book Neighborhood Sketches appeared, and fared better than its predecessor. Soon after, spurred by his readers’ delight with the realistic way in which he portrayed the children in his stories, Shute began to write in a diary format, with the entries penned by the innocent children in his stories. These stories were published in a book that brought Shute wide recognition, The Real Diary of a Real Boy (1902).
Shute continued to write in a diary format, and in subsequent years ninety-three of his stories were published in popular magazines such as the Saturday Evening Post, American Illustrated, Good Housekeeping, Pearson’s Magazine, American Boy, and New England Magazine. Shute also became well known for his series of Plupy books which were aimed at children. Shute was dubbed the Mark Twain of New England for his humorous accounts of hometown Exeter life. He continued to publish his work until 1929, and practiced law until 1936. He died in 1943.