Biography

Charles Emmett van Loan was born on 29 June 1876, at San Jose, California, the son of Richard and Emma Van Loan. His father was a captain in the Salvation Army and his mother an adjutant (a rank that has since been discontinued). As young boy in San Bernardino, Charles was often called upon to beat the drum at Salvation Army functions.

Charles began as a writer for the Los Angeles Morning Herald and later the Los Angeles Examiner. In New York he worked as a sports writer on the Evening Journal and the American, before becoming associate editor for the Saturday Evening Post. When Charles left the New York American he was able to bring in his friend, Damon Runyon, to replace him as sports writer.

During his career Charles, whose passion was baseball, became known as one of America's most popular sports writers, humorist and writer of short stories. He was a prolific contributor of sports stories for leading magazines, in particular the Saturday Evening Post. According to the Philadelphia Public Ledger, Charles had the largest following of men readers of any magazine fiction writer. The Bonehead" (1911), "The Ten-Thousand Dollar Arm and Other Tales of the Big League" (1912), and "Art and the Dollar" (1919) were among his most popular stories.

Charles Emmett van Loan died of chronic nephritis on 2 March 1919, while on business trip to Abington, Pennsylvania. It was thought at the time that a broken arm suffered in an automobile accident in 1914 may have contributed to his early death. He was survived by his wife, the former Emma C. Lenz (1880-1954), a daughter Virginia and his son Richard. Charles' father collapsed and died of a heart attack upon hearing of his son's passing.

- IMDb Mini Biography By: John F. Barlow