30 Facts About MacKinlay Kantor

MacKinlay Kantor, born Benjamin McKinlay Kantor, was an American journalist, novelist and screenwriter.

MacKinlay Kantor wrote more than 30 novels, several set during the American Civil War, and was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1956 for his 1955 novel, Andersonville.

MacKinlay Kantor was born and grew up in Webster City, Iowa, the second child and only son in his family.

MacKinlay Kantor's father, John Martin Kantor, was a native-born Swedish Jew descended from "a long line of rabbis, who posed as a Protestant clergyman".

MacKinlay Kantor's mother was of English, Irish, Scottish, and Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry.

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MacKinlay Kantor's mother returned to her parents in Webster City, Mr and Mrs Adam McKinlay, to live at their home with her children.

MacKinlay Kantor changed its spelling, adding an "a", because he thought it sounded more Scottish, and chose to be called "Mack" or MacKinlay.

MacKinlay Kantor attended the local schools and described the Kendall Young Public Library as his "university".

MacKinlay Kantor married Florence Irene Layne, and they had two children together.

From 1928 to 1934, MacKinlay Kantor wrote numerous stories for pulp fiction magazines, to earn a living and support his family; these works included crime stories and mysteries.

MacKinlay Kantor sold his first pulp stories, "Delivery Not Received" and "A Bad Night for Benny", to Edwin Baird, editor of Real Detective Tales and Mystery Stories.

In 1928, MacKinlay Kantor published his first novel, Diversey, set in Chicago, Illinois.

In 1932, MacKinlay Kantor moved with his family from the Midwest to New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area.

MacKinlay Kantor's work was part of the literature event in the art competition at the 1936 Summer Olympics.

MacKinlay Kantor interviewed numerous wounded troops, whose thoughts and ideas inspired a later novel of his.

When Kantor interviewed U S troops, many told him the only goal was to get home alive.

MacKinlay Kantor wrote a novel in blank verse, which was published as Glory for Me.

MacKinlay Kantor was said to have lost his temper with Goldwyn and walked off the Hollywood lot.

MacKinlay Kantor was the only civilian other than reporters allowed to ride with police on their beat.

MacKinlay Kantor often rode on night shifts, working with the 23rd Precinct, whose territory ranged from upper Park Avenue to East Harlem, comprising a wide range of residents and incomes.

Also in 1950 MacKinlay Kantor took up research into the post-war life of a war widow.

In discussions with the chaplain at Mitchel Field, MacKinlay Kantor was referred to Margaret Stavish of Bellmore, New York, who had lost her B-24 pilot husband, Edward Dobson, killed in action on November 18, 1943, and in 1947 married John Stavish, a veteran of the Pacific theater.

MacKinlay Kantor then published their story, "V-J Day Plus Five Years, " in the August 1950 issue of Redbook Magazine.

MacKinlay Kantor was noted for his limited use of punctuation within his literary compositions.

MacKinlay Kantor was known for a lack of quotation marks and was influential in this regard on Cormac McCarthy, who said that Kantor was the first writer he encountered who left them out.

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MacKinlay Kantor was one of three primary influences on McCarthy's adopting his unique style.

In writing more than 30 novels, MacKinlay Kantor often returned to the theme of the American Civil War.

MacKinlay Kantor passed his payment on to Trumbo to help him survive.

MacKinlay Kantor established his own publishing house, and published several of his works in the 1930s and 1940s.

MacKinlay Kantor died of a heart attack in 1977, aged 73, at his home in Sarasota, Florida.