Will Levington Comfort

Will Levington Comfort
Will Levington Comfort.
Born	February 17, 1878 Kalamazoo, Michigan
Died	November 2, 1932 (aged 54) Los Angeles, California
Nationality	US
Occupation	writer
Spouse(s)	Penelope
Children	John, Jane (Comfort) Annixter, Tom Tyrone

Will Levington Comfort (February 17, 1878 – November 2, 1932) was a U.S. writer, known primarily for adventure novels such as Apache. Three of Comfort's works served as the story for feature films. Somewhere in Sonora, based on his novel Somewhere south of Sonora, was remade in 1933 starring John Wayne.

The Will Levington Comfort Letters (2 volumes, 1920–21) deal with theosophical subjects, and influenced among others Alice Bailey. Comfort introduced composer/astrologer Dane Rudhyar to Marc Edmund Jones who introduced Rudhyar to the study of astrology. Rudhyar married Comfort's secretary, Maria Contento. Comfort was also an influence on painters Mabel Alvarez^[1] and Agnes Pelton.

Biography

Comfort was educated in Detroit, Michigan public schools, and then at Albion College, Albion, Michigan. He gained experience as a newspaper reporter in Detroit, Michigan, Cincinnati, Ohio, and Covington, Kentucky. In the Spanish–American War he served in the 5th U.S. Cavalry. Later, in 1899, he became a war correspondent. In connection with his correspondent's duties, he traveled in the Philippines and China. In 1904 he also traveled in Russia and Japan as correspondent.^[2] Later in life he came to live in Highland Park, a suburb of Los Angeles, California. At this period of his life, when he was concerned with spiritual matters, he published two periodicals, The Glass Hive and the Reconstruction Letters.^[3]

Works

• Trooper Tales; A Series of Sketches of the Real American Private Soldier (1899).
• The Lady of Fallen Star Island (1902).
• Routledge Rides Alone (1910).
• She Buildeth her House (1911).
• Fate Knocks at the Door; A Novel (1912).
• The Road of Living Men; A Novel (1913).
• Down Among Men (1913).
• Midstream; A Chronicle at halfway (1914).
• Red Fleece (1915).
• Lot & Company (1915).
• Child and Country; A Book of the Younger Generation (1915).
• Chautonville (1915). Short story in The Masses and republished in The Best Short Stories of 1915.
• The Last Ditch (1916).
• The Shielding Wing (1918).
• The Hive (1918).
• The Yellow Lord (1919).
• Magic Hours; A Romance of the East (1920).
• Son of Power (1920).
• This Man's World (1921).
• The public square (1923).
• Somewhere South in Sonora (1925).
• Samadhi (1927).
• Apache (1931).
• The Pilot Comes Aboard (1932).

References

1. Trenton, Patricia; Sandra D'Emilio (1995). Independent spirits: women painters of the American West, 1890–1945. University of California Press. p. 90. ISBN 978-0-520-20203-0.
2. Townsend, John Wilson; Dorothy Edwards Townsend (1913). Kentucky in American letters, 1784–1912. The Torch Press.
3. "Finding Aid for the Will Levington Comfort Papers, 1910-1932". Online Archive of California. University of California. Retrieved 20 November 2011.

External links

• Will Levington Comfort at the Internet Movie Database
• Works by Will Levington Comfort at Project Gutenberg
• Works by or about Will Levington Comfort at Internet Archive
• Fate Knocks At The Door at Project Gutenberg
• Red Fleece at Project Gutenberg