Owen McMahon Johnson (August 27, 1878 – January 27, 1952) was an American writer best remembered for his stories and novels cataloguing the educational and personal growth of the fictional characterDink Stover. The "Lawrenceville Stories" (The Prodigious Hickey,The Tennessee Shad,The Varmint,Skippy Bedelle,The Hummingbird), set in thewell-known prep school, invite comparison withKipling'sStalky & Co. A 1950 film,The Happy Years, and a 1987PBS mini-series,The Lawrenceville Stories, were based on them.
He was born inNew York City, the son ofRobert Underwood Johnson and his wife Katharine, née McMahon, and attendedLawrenceville School, founding and editing theLawrenceville Literary Magazine, known asThe Lit.[1] He attendedYale University, as a member of the Class of 1900,[2] graduating in 1901, marrying Mary Galt Stockly and moving toParis, where he did his initial writing. He was a war correspondent for theNew York Times andCollier's duringWorld War I.
His first wife died in 1910.[1] His married his second wifeEsther Ellen Cobb (better known as Cobina Wright Sr.) in 1912 and divorced in 1917.[1] His third wife was Cecile Denise de la Garde, who died in 1918.[1] His fourth wife was Catherine Sayre Burton, who died in 1923.[1] His fifth wife was Gertrude Bovee Le Boutillier.[1] He was the father of five children.[1]
Johnson worked and resided inStockbridge, Massachusetts[1] from 1923 to 1948, writing about marriage, divorce, and golf. After 1931, his writing activities became less intense, and he became interested in politics, running (unsuccessfully) for theHouse of Representatives in 1936 and 1938.[1]
He died at his home inVineyard Haven, Massachusetts, where he had lived for five years.[1]
Several films are based upon Johnson novels, includingThe Salamander (1916) produced byB. S. Moss,The Varmint (1917),Virtuous Wives (1918),The Woman Gives (1920),The Enemy Sex (1924) (based onThe Salamander),Children of Divorce (1927), andThe Happy Years (1950) starringDean Stockwell andLeo G. Carroll.
A 1987-1989miniseries ofThe Lawrenceville Stories was directed byAllan A. Goldstein andRobert Iscove. The series followed the adventures of school prankster Hickey (Zach Galligan) and his rival, The Tennessee Shad (Nicholas Rowe).[3]
