John Kendrick Bangs

John Kendrick Bangs (May 27, 1862 - January 21, 1922) was an American author, editor and satirist. He edited some popular American magazines such as Harper's Weekly and Puck . His satirical novella A House-Boat on the Styx is responsible for the term Bangsian Fantasy , which refers to stories about famous people in the afterlife (e.g., Philip Jose Farmer's Riverworld series ). He was born in Yonkers, New York. His father Francis Nehemiah Bangs was a lawyer in New York City, as was his brother,...See more

John Kendrick Bangs (May 27, 1862 - January 21, 1922) was an American author, editor and satirist. He edited some popular American magazines such as Harper's Weekly and Puck . His satirical novella A House-Boat on the Styx is responsible for the term Bangsian Fantasy , which refers to stories about famous people in the afterlife (e.g., Philip Jose Farmer's Riverworld series ). He was born in Yonkers, New York. His father Francis Nehemiah Bangs was a lawyer in New York City, as was his brother, Francis S. Bangs. He went to Columbia University from 1880 to 1883 where he became editor of Columbia's literary magazine and contributed short anonymous pieces to humor magazines. After graduation in 1883, Bangs entered Columbia Law School but left in 1884 to become Associate Editor of Life under Edward S. Martin. Bangs contributed many articles and poems to the magazine between 1884 and 1888. During this period, Bangs published his first books. During the period between 1901 & 1906, Mr. Bangs was known to have spent at least parts of his summers at the Profile House in Franconia, New Hampshire. He owned one of the 20 connected cottages adjacent to the large hotel, which he sold to Cornelius Newton Bliss in August 1906. As a satirical writer, he was also known in the "Profile Cottage" circles as a jokester and prankster and was frequently the jovial topic of hotel guests and cottage owners alike. See less