John T. McIntyre

John Thomas McIntyre (26 November 1871 – 21 May 1951 ) was an American playwright, and mystery and crime fiction author. McIntyre worked as a freelance journalist in Philadelphia before writing his first novel The Ragged Edge. He was also the writer of the plays Steve (1912) and A Young Man's Fancy (1919). McIntyre's success as a serious novelist were limited and short-lived, and he relied on writing short stories, detective mysteries and juvenile fiction to make a living. He invented the character Ashton-Kirk, a scientific-minded criminologist, and published several books featuring his cases. He also wrote serials for newspapers about a freelance detective named Jerry Mooney. McIntyre's biggest success came from his 1936 novel, Steps Going Down, which was the US entry in the All-Nations Prize Novel Competition and won a prize of $4,000.

Early life and education McIntyre was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 26 November 1871 to Irish immigrants, Sarah Walker (1848–1885) and Patrick McIntyre (circa 1842–1871) (who died the month after he was born). He grew up in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia and attended St. Michael's School (2nd & Jefferson Streets) and then the Harrison Grammar School (Master Street west of 2nd Street, formerly called The West Kensington School). His family consistently shows up in the U.S. Federal Census records as living in Kensington from 1860 to 1800 on Byron Place, a courtyard east of Germantown Avenue below Master Street, then in 1900 John T. McIntyre is enumerated as a boarder at 126 W. Girard Avenue, near Howard Street. He left school after 8th grade when his mother died, was raised by an aunt, and was working full-time by the age of fourteen.

Career

He worked for the stock company of the South Street Standard Theatre, writing a new play each week based on a set of posters produced for the theater's entrance. The only copy of his manuscript was stolen during an express company robbery and it took him nearly a year to rewrite the book from memory. In 1919, A Young Man's Fancy, his most well-known play, was produced by George C. Tyler. In 1920, A Young Man's Fancy, was produced by George M. Cohan. Ashton-Kirk Investigator (1910) Ashton-Kirk Secret Agent (1912) Ashton-Kirk Special Detective (1914) Ashton-Kirk Criminologist (1918) The Museum Murder (1929) Mooney Moves Around (1939) Death at Dakar (1942) Ninth Floor: Middle City Tower. A Jerry Mooney Story (1943) Death Strikes at Heron House. A Jerry Mooney Story (1944)

Plays Hearts of Men: A Drama in Four Acts (1899) In the Toils: A Melodrama in Five Acts (1905) The Bowery Night School: A Vaudeville Sketch (1906) The Swell Cracksman, a Vaudeville Sketch (1906) One Girl in a Thousand (1910) The Dime Lunch: A Vaudeville Sketch ... (1911) "Genius and the Crowd;": A Comedy in Three Acts (1920) Sketches, Skits and Stunts (1922)

Juvenile fiction The Young Continentals at Monmouth (1912) In Kentucky with Daniel Boone (1913)

Mainstream novels The Ragged Edge: A Tale of Ward Life & Politics (1902) With Fighting Jack Barry (1907) The Street Singer (1908) Blowing Weather (1923) Young Man's Fancy, An Easter Fantasy (1925) Shot Towers (1926) Slag (1927) Stained Sails (1928) Drums in the Dawn (1932) Steps Going Down (1936) Ferment (1937) Signing Off (1938)