About S. S. Van Dine
S. S. Van Dine (also styled S.S. Van Dine) is the pen name used by American art critic Willard Huntington Wright (October 15, 1888 – April 11, 1939) when he wrote detective novels. Wright was active in avant-garde cultural circles in pre–World War I New York, and under the pen name (which he originally used to conceal his identity) he created the fictional detective Philo Vance, a sleuth and aesthete who first appeared in novels, starting with The Benson Murder Case (1926), then in films and on the radio. == Early life == Willard Huntington Wright was born to Archibald Davenport Wright and Annie Van Vranken Wright on October 15, 1888, in Charlottesville, Virginia. His younger brother, Stanton Macdonald-Wright, became a respected painter, one of the first American abstract artists, and co-founder (with Morgan Russell) of the school of modern art known as "Synchromism". Willard and Stanton were raised in Santa Monica, California, where their father owned a hotel. Willard, a largely self-taught writer, attended St. Vincent College, Pomona College, and Harvard University without graduating. In 1907, he married Katharine Belle Boynton of Seattle, Washington; they had one child, Beverley. He abandoned Katherine and Beverley early in their marriage. Katharine was granted a divorce in October 1930.
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