John T. McIntyre

John Thomas McIntyre (26 November 1871 - 21 May 1951) was an American novelist. McIntyre was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, son of Patrick and Sarah (Walker) McIntyre. He grew up in the Northern Liberties district and attended St. Michael’s School and then the Harrison Grammar School. He left school early and was working full-time by the age of eleven. He worked for the stock company of the South Street Standard Theatre, writing a new play each week based on a set of posters produced for the theater’s entrance. He also worked as a freelance journalist for Philadelphia newspapers such as the Philadelphia Press. In 1898, he started writing his first novel, a political drama set in the wards along the Schuylkill River and Philadelphia waterfront, titled The Ragged Edge. The only copy of his manuscript was stolen during an express company robbery and it took him nearly a year to rewrite the book from memory. The book was published by McClure, Phillips in 1902 and is widely considered an early example of the urban Irish-American political novel. He subsequently wrote short stories, detective mysteries and juvenile fiction. He invented Ashton-Kirk, a scientific-minded criminologist, and published several books featuring his cases. He also wrote serials for newspapers about a freelance detective named Jerry Mooney. McIntyre’s greatest success and fame came from his 1936 novel, Steps Going Down, which was selected as the United States entry in the All-Nations Prize Novel Competition. Although it did not win the full competition, its selection won McIntyre an award of $4,000 in cash and gained prominent notices for the book in most of the major literary magazines. He died in 1951 at the age of 79.