Crichton, Kyle, 1896-1960

Variant names

Dates:

Birth 1896

Death 1960

Biographical notes:

Novelist, critic and editor Kyle S. Crichton moved to New Mexico for health reasons after graduating from Lehigh University in 1917. Following his residence in the Presbyterian Sanitorium, Crichton worked for both the Albuquerque Herald and Tribune. In 1929 Crichton moved to New York to work as a book editor for Scribner's. In 1939 Collier's Weekly hired him as an associate editor. Writing under his own name, Crichton remained at Collier's until 1949.

From the description of Letters to Clinton Anderson, 1944. (University of New Mexico-Main Campus). WorldCat record id: 46867232

Novelist, critic and editor, Kyle S. Crichton, moved to New Mexico for health reasons after graduating from Lehigh University in 1917. Following his residence in the Presbyterian Sanitorium, Crichton worked for both the Albuquerque Herald and Albuquerque Tribune . Later he married Mae Collier and had three children with her. While in New Mexico he became the Commissioner of the State Bureau of Publicity and manager of the Albuquerque Civic Council. He also wrote a biography on the colorful New Mexico lawman Elfego Baca entitled, Law and Order ltd.: The Rousing Life of Elfego Baca of New Mexico.

In 1929 Crichton moved to New York to work as a book editor for Scribner's. Deeply affected by the Great Depression, Crichton began writing under the pseudonym "Robert Forsythe" for the communist Daily Worker and became editor of the left-wing magazine, New Masses . In 1939 Collier's Weekly hired him as an associate editor. Writing under his own name, Crichton remained at Collier's until 1949.

Crichton published most of his books after he left Collier's, with the exception of The Proud People, published in 1944. His second novel, The History of the Adventures of George Whigham and His Friend Mr. Claney Hobson, was published in 1951. He wrote two biographies, the first, The Marx Brothers, chronicled the five brothers' rise to stardom; the second was a collaboration with Cordelia Drexel Biddle about her father Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle entitled My Philadelphia Father. This was later adapted for the stage and screen under the title The Happiest Millionaire. Crichton's last book, Total Recoil, is an autobiographic sketchbook of his interactions and correspondence with many notable literary figures. Crichton died in 1960.

From the guide to the Kyle Crichton Letters to Clinton P. Anderson, 1944, (University of New Mexico. Center for Southwest Research.)