Samuel W. Taylor

Samuel Woolley Taylor (February 5, 1907 – September 26, 1997) was an American novelist, scriptwriter, and historian.

He is best-known for the short story "A Situation of Gravity" in the May 22, 1943 issue of Liberty magazine. This story was adapted to film and television several times. The first version was The Walt Disney Company movie The Absent-Minded Professor (1961), followed by the theatrical sequel, Son of Flubber (1963), and two made-for-TV legacy sequels starring Harry Anderson, The Absent-Minded Professor (1988) and The Absent-Minded Professor: Trading Places (1989). The 1997 film Flubber starring Robin Williams is a remake of the first film. Taylor also wrote several novels and non-fiction works, some of which touch on Latter-day Saint themes.

Biography Taylor was born in Provo, Utah to Janet "Nettie" Maria Woolley and John W. Taylor, the son of John Taylor, president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1880 to 1887. Samuel's father was a former member of the church's Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, having left in 1905 in protest over the church's Second Manifesto abandonment of polygamy the previous year. Despite his father's ecclesiastical history and excommunication in 1911, Samuel was raised in the LDS Church. He later wrote a biography of his father called Family Kingdom, and one of his grandfather titled The Kingdom or Nothing.

In the late 1920s Taylor attended Brigham Young University (BYU), studying journalism. After six suspensions, he later recalled that he could "take a hint" and dropped out of BYU. By then he had already published five articles in nationally distributed magazines.

General novels Those novels not dealing specifically with Mormonism: The Grinning Gismo, A. a. Wyn Inc, 1951. The Man with My Face, 1948 Take My Advice, Mr. President, Taylor Trust, 1996. (A collection of his Liberty magazine short stories, including "A Situation of Gravity") Uranium Fever, with Raymond Taylor, Macmillan Company, 1970

Latter-day Saint works Biography and history Family Kingdom, New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1951. I Have Six Wives, New York: Greenberg, 1956. (based on the life of Rulon C. Allred) Vineyard by the Bay, San Mateo, 1968. (uncredited; history of the LDS Church in the San Francisco Bay Area) Nightfall at Nauvoo (Nauvoo House and Nauvoo Temple), New York: Macmillan, 1971 . The Kingdom or Nothing, New York: Macmillan, 1976. (republished as The Last Pioneer, Signature Books, 1999, ) Rocky Mountain Empire, New York: Macmillan, 1978. The John Taylor Papers (2 vols.), Redwood City, Cal: Taylor Trust, 1984. Taylor-made Tales, Murray, Utah: Aspen Books, 1994. (autobiography)

Humorous fiction Heaven Knows Why!, New York: A.A. Wyn, 1948. Mormon comedy set in Utah, originally published as serials in Collier's magazine under the title "The Mysterious Way". Has been called the funniest piece of fiction written on Mormon culture.

Criticism Taylor was an early proponent of a Mormon literature in essays such as "Peculiar People, Positive Thinkers and the Prospects of Mormon Literature" (Dialogue, 1967) and "Little Did She Realize: Writing for the Mormon Market" (Dialogue, 1969), wherein he decried the current state of the literature and called for greater artistry and realism. Taylor continued to publish criticism related to Mormon culture in Dialogue as well as Sunstone magazine.