Madison Cooper

Madison Alexander Cooper Jr., (June 3, 1894 – September 28, 1956) was an American businessman and philanthropist from Waco, Texas, who is best remembered for his long novel Sironia, Texas, which made publishing history at that time as the longest novel in English originally published in book form, in two volumes totaling 1,731 pages,

Life and career Cooper was born in Waco, and was the son of Madison Alexander and Martha Dillon (Roane) Cooper. Cooper offered the house to the USO during World War II, and hosted many servicemen there through the duration of the war.

Cooper soon developed a reputation as a wealthy and eccentric bachelor among members of the local community. Sironia, Texas was set in a fictional Texas town which appeared to be based on Waco; many of the characters were known to have been based in some part on local personalities, but to what extent Cooper would never admit. He also received McMurray Bookshop Award, granted in 1953 by the Texas Institute of Letters;

Cooper wrote one additional novel, The Haunted Hacienda (1955), which did not fare as well as Sironia, Texas; it was the first in a planned trilogy, but the other two books were never written. as is a community clinic in Waco.

The Madison Cooper House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.