Harold MacGrath

In addition, he had eighteen novels and three short stories adapted as films, in some cases more than once. Three of these novels were also adapted as plays that were produced on Broadway in New York City. MacGrath traveled extensively but was always based in Syracuse, New York, where he was born and raised.

• Name — Harold MacGrath • Born — September 4, 1871 • Birthplace — Syracuse, New York, United States • Died — 30 October 1932 • Place of death — Syracuse, New York, United States • Language — English • Genre — Fiction, short story, screenwriting, journalism • Occupation — * Novelist • short story writer • screenwriter • journalist

Born Harold McGrath in Syracuse, New York, he was the son of Thomas H. and Lillian Jane McGrath. As a young man, he worked as a reporter and columnist for the Syracuse Herald newspaper until the late 1890s, when he published his first novel, a romance titled Arms and the Woman. According to the New York Times, his next book, The Puppet Crown, was the No.7 bestselling book in the United States for all of 1901. MacGrath (as he spelled his name then) continued to write novels for the mass market about love, adventure, mystery, spies, and the like at an average rate of more than one a year. He had three more books that were among the top ten bestselling books of the year. At the same time, he published a number of short stories in such major American magazines as The Saturday Evening Post, Ladies Home Journal, and Red Book magazine. Several of MacGrath's novels were also serialized in these magazines. He continued to have short stories published in such venues until his death in 1932.

Harold MacGrath became a wealthy man because of his success as a writer. He traveled extensively internationally, but was based in Syracuse, New York. There he commissioned design and construction in 1912 of an English country-style mansion and associated landscaped gardens. These were highly regarded. In "The Short Autobiography of a Deaf Man", an essay published in The Saturday Evening Post (23 April 1932), MacGrath wrote about having struggled early in life as a result of a hearing impairment. At a time when deaf people were often considered as lacking intellectual acuity because of difficulty in communications, MacGrath had concealed this condition from his employer and others. Harold MacGrath died at his home in Syracuse a few months after publishing this article.

MacGrath died in 1932. His coffin was held for viewing in St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Syracuse, before a 2 p.m. funeral service on November 5, 1932. Hundreds of people came to pass by the bier. Rev. Dr. Henry H. Hadley, rector of St. Paul's, officiated at the church service.

Harold MacGrath is recorded as writer, screenwriter, novelist and journalist.