Joseph Hergesheimer(1880-1954)

American writer and novelist Joseph Hergesheimer was born in Philadelphia, PA, in 1880. He was educated at a Quaker school in Germantown, PA, but left at age 16 to attend the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. His real talent, however, lay in writing, and in 1914 he got his first novel published, "The Lay Anthony". A prolific writer, he turned out books in all genres--fiction, biographies, short stories, travel books, and critical papers. He is probably best known for his 1919 novel "Java Head", which has been turned into films twice. He wrote his autobiography, "The Presbyterian Child", in 1923.

He died in Sea Isle City, NJ, in 1954.