Peter B. Kyne
Peter B. Kyne was an American novelist, short-story writer, and screenwriter born in San Francisco in 1880. He explored various literary genres, notably Westerns, romance, and comedy, and began his writing career with a short story published in the Saturday Evening Post in 1909. Kyne's life experiences significantly influenced his work; he left school at fifteen to help in his father's cattle business, later gaining diverse employment, including roles as a clerk, haberdasher, and newspaperman. His military service included a year in the Philippines and a later role as a field artillery captain in World War I.
Kyne is best known for his character Cappy Ricks, a retired sea captain whose adventures reflect Kyne's own experiences in the lumber and shipping industries. His notable works include "Cappy Ricks: Or, The Subjugation of Matt Peasley" (1916) and "The Go-Getter" (1921), the latter telling the story of a disabled veteran achieving success against the odds. Despite his popularity in the 1920s, interest in Kyne's writing waned in the following decades, leading to a decline in his literary legacy. He passed away in 1957, shortly after the death of his wife, and his papers are preserved at the University of Oregon Library.
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Peter B. Kyne
Writer
- Born: October 12, 1880
- Birthplace: San Francisco, California
- Died: November 25, 1957
Biography
Peter B. Kyne, novelist, short-story writer, and screenwriter, was born in San Francisco in 1880, the son of a man who raised cattle and his wife. Kyne composed in a variety of literary genres, including Western, romance, and comedy. Kyne’s formal education consisted of attendance in a one-room public school, which he left at age fifteen to work in his father’s cattle business. During this time, he also attended six months of classes at a local business college.
At the age of sixteen, Kyne left the family farm to work as a clerk in a town about ten miles away. After working for nine months, Kyne lied about his age and bribed a corporal so he could join the army. He served as an infantryman in the Philippines for one year, and his military service also included a stint as a field artillery captain during World War I.
Throughout his life, Kyne worked at a variety of jobs, including haberdasher, lumber broker, newspaperman, and cattle and swine raiser. Kyne turned to writing and published his first short story in the Saturday Evening Post in 1909. In 1910, he married Helen Catherine Johnston.
Kyne was a prolific novelist and short-story writer, and many of his works reflect his fascination with the American West. His stories also reinforced traditional American values such as courage, common sense, and confidence. His novels include Cappy Ricks: Or, The Subjugation of Matt Peasley (1916), The Green-Pea Pirates (1919), and The Valley of the Giants (1918). The latter novel was adapted for the screen in 1919, and many of Kyne’s other novels and short stories also were adapted as films.
He is best known for his stories featuring the retired sea captain Cappy Ricks, a character who has many adventures as he travels the West Coast. Ricks is based on Kyne’s own experiences working for lumber and shipping companies. Kyne’s collection of short stories, The Parson of Panamint, and Other Stories, was published in 1929, and many of these stories take place in the mining frontier of Nevada and California. Kyne’s inspirational novel The Go-Getter: A Story That Tells You How to Be One (1921) tells the story of a disabled World War I veteran who achieves success as a businessman despite the many obstacles in his path.
During the 1920’s, Kyne’s works were immensely popular because of the quality of his storytelling and memorable characters like Cappy Ricks and “Pop” Bates, who often displayed unorthodox virtue. During the 1930’s, Kyne’s health began to fail, and the reading public began to lose interest in his everyday heroes. By the 1940’s, interest in Kyne’s stories had all but vanished, and his novel Dude Woman (1940) failed to sell. Kyne’s wife died in 1956 and he died the following year. A collection of his papers, including manuscripts and letters, can be found at the University of Oregon Library.