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Fitzhugh, Percy Keese, 1876-1950We have 13 books for this author.Percy Keese Fitzhugh (September 7, 1876 - July 5, 1950) is an American author of nearly 100 books for children and young adults. BiographyPercy Keese Fitzhugh was born in Brooklyn, New York. He attended Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. Records do not indicate that he graduated. He married Harriet (Hatti) Lloyd LePorte on July 13, 1900 in Kingston, Massachusetts. Fitzhugh's first known work, The Goldenrod Story Book was published in 1906. The bulk of his work, having a Boy Scouting theme, revolves around the fictional town of Bridgeboro, New Jersey. Characters included Tom Slade, Pee-wee Harris, Roy Blakely, and Westy Martin. Each of these characters had their own, distinctly different, series of books. In addition, a fifth series, Buddy Books for Boys, featured individual stories of other Boy Scout characters. In all, Grosset & Dunlap published nearly 70 different Fitzhugh titles in these 5 series. Fitzhugh’s model for Bridgeboro was his own home town of Hackensack, New Jersey. Many of the places and features of the fictional Bridgeboro actually do (or did) exist in and around Hackensack. Additionally, while Fitzhugh’s characters were involved in adventures that were exciting, they were always plausible. This aspect of his stories boosted their popularity and added a component of depth and realism that was lacking in many of the other so called "boys’ series books" of the day. Nearly all of Fitzhugh’s Boy Scout books bore the official seal of approval of the BSA. Fitzhugh’s Scouting based books were very popular with children and adults. His characters became so real to his readers that it was not uncommon for Percy to receive fan mail addressed to the characters themselves. Fitzhugh's contribution to the growth and popularity of the Scouting movement can never be measured, but it is widely held that many thousands of boys joined the Scouts because of his writings. In the 1930’s Fitzhugh began writing the Hal Keen Mystery Series (10 titles) under the pseudonym Hugh Lloyd, also published by Grosset & Dunlap. The Hal Keen books were followed by another mystery series - Skippy Dare - (3 titles- G&D). Neither of these series achieved the popularity of his earlier Boy Scout work. Percy Keese Fitzhugh died at home on July 5th, 1950 from complications of a long illness, he was 73. External linksThis biographical information was gathered from the Percy_Keese_Fitzhugh page, courtesy of the Wikipedia project. BooksPee-Wee HarrisPee-Wee Harris Adrift Pee-Wee Harris on the Trail Roy Blakeley Roy Blakeley's Adventures in Camp Roy Blakely, Pathfinder Tom Slade : Boy Scout of the Moving Pictures Tom Slade Motorcycle Dispatch Bearer Tom Slade at Black Lake Tom Slade at Temple Camp Tom Slade on Mystery Trail Tom Slade with the Boys Over There Tom Slade's Double Dare |
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