Bret Harte

Bret Harte (1836–1902) was an American writer of short stories and verse. Born in Albany, New York, he moved to California in 1854 and worked as a teacher, typesetter and journalist before editing the Overland Monthly, where "The Luck of Roaring Camp" and "The Outcasts of Poker Flat" made him famous. His comic poem "Plain Language from Truthful James" was a national sensation, and in 1871 he signed a lucrative contract with The Atlantic Monthly, but his later work never matched that early success. He served as American consul in Krefeld and Glasgow and spent his last years in England.