McFee, William, 1881-1966

20th century American author.

William McFee was an English novelist, essayist, and literary critic.

William McFee, a marine engineer and novelist, was born in London, England. He served as apprentice to several mechanical engineers and subsequently went to sea as a marine engineer rising to the position of chief engineer. McFee then went to live in the United States where he began writing novels, of which more than twenty focus on life at sea. The narrator/protagonist of many of these tales was called Chief Engineer Spenlove and was modelled on the author. His books include Ocean tramp, Casuals of the sea, and In the first watch, an autobiography.

Author; marine engineer.

McFee was born on June 15, 1881 at sea en route to England from India; attended schools in London and the East Anglian School, Bury St. Edmunds, West Suffolk; furthered his education by evening study of technical subjects at Northampton Institute and by reading at the British Museum; apprenticed in McMuirland's Engineering Shops, London, 1897-ca. 1900, and then worked as a mechanical engineer; went to sea as junior engineer in 1906, and began to write while at sea, completing two books before moving to the US to write; served as an engineer in British Navy during WWI; returned to US after the war, working as an engineer at sea for the United Fruit Company; left the sea and became a full-time writer in 1923, producing novels, short stories, and essays, almost all of which concerned the sea; became US citizen in 1925; wrote reviews and columns for the New York sun and New York times, and incidental pieces for magazines; received honorary MA from Yale Univ. in 1936; elected to National Institute of Arts and Letters, 1941; died on July 2, 1966 in New Milford, CT.

English writer.