22 Facts About Harry Sylvester

Harry Ambrose Sylvester was an American short-story writer and novelist in the first half of the 20th century.

Harry Sylvester's stories were published in popular magazines such as Collier's, Esquire, Columbia, and Commonweal.

Harry Sylvester was asked to turn John Steinbeck's script for Alfred Hitchcock's Lifeboat into a short story.

Harry Sylvester is remembered primarily as the author of Dayspring and a friend of Ernest Hemingway.

Harry Sylvester's grandfather was Jeremiah Curtin, a folklorist who influenced W B Yeats's interest in Irish mythology.

Harry Sylvester graduated in 1930 with a degree in journalism.

In 1933, Harry Sylvester gave up a full-time job as a journalist in order to concentrate on his fiction writing.

Harry Sylvester drew upon his own experiences playing for Notre Dame for the story.

Harry Sylvester followed this up with a third novel in 1945, Dayspring, which follows the investigations of an atheist anthropologist named Spencer Bain.

Harry Sylvester declined all translation requests, except for that of Klos-Gwizalska.

In 1948, Harry Sylvester arranged a collection of his short stories and published them under the title All Your Idols.

Harry Sylvester's final published novel, A Golden Girl, is set in Peru and is his least overtly religious work.

Harry Sylvester was a prolific writer of book reviews, publishing over 100 reviews for outlets such as Commonweal and the New York Times between 1931 and 1974.

Harry Sylvester formally renounced his membership in the Catholic church in 1954 and joined the Quakers.

Harry Sylvester remarried that same year and his second wife, Janet Hart Sylvester, joined the Quakers with Sylvester.

Harry Sylvester spent the last 40 years of his life in the Washington, DC area.

In letters to Cort, Harry Sylvester expressed deep grief over the loss of Janet and the difficulty he had after her death.

Harry Sylvester spent the last five years of his life at the Friends Nursing Home in Sandy Spring, Maryland.

Harry Sylvester died after a long battle with Parkinson's disease on September 26,1993.

Harry Sylvester was a friend and correspondent of Ernest Hemingway in the 1930s; several letters to him from Hemingway appear in the latter's Selected Letters.

Harry Sylvester regularly exchanged letters with J F Powers and Richard T Sullivan.

Harry Sylvester estimated that he wrote "about 150 short stories" between 1930 and 1955.