H. D. Couzens

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H. D. Couzens
Born
Henry De Clifford Couzens

1872
DiedApril 20, 1914(1914-04-20) (aged 41–42)
Occupation(s)Internal Revenue Service agent, writer
Known forAdventure stories
Notable workBrethren of the Beach
Spouse
Virginia Lucas
(m. 1909)
Children1

Henry De Clifford Couzens[a] (1872 – April 20, 1914)[3][1] was an American writer.

Biography[edit]

Couzens's "Brethren of the Beach" was the cover story in the June 1912 issue of Adventure

Couzens was born in Virginia.[4] One of his grandfathers was Matthew K. Couzens, a New York State Engineer.

Couzens was living in New York in 1886, then relocated to Hawaii, where he lived for four years. During this time, he met Robert Louis Stevenson.[4] Couzens then spent time in New York and Paris studying art, becoming a painter. He then returned to Hawaii and became Chief Deputy in the region's Internal Revenue Service.[4][5] While in Hawaii, he became a friend of Jack London.[4][1] Couzens moved to San Francisco in 1907.

Couzens first published a story in Outing magazine in 1894. He then began to contribute material to the slick magazine Sunset. Couzens also began to have his stories of nautical life regularly appear in pulp magazines such as Adventure and Railroad Man's Magazine.[6] His 1912 novella "Brethren of the Beach" was later expanded into a novel; the expanded version was published in Adventure, and also in Cassell's Magazine in the UK.[7] Brethren of the Beach was later published as a hardback book.[5]

Couzens was a member of the Adventurers' Club of New York.[4] He died of tuberculosis in Phoenix, Arizona, in April 1914.[5][1] He was survived by his wife, Virginia, and his three-year-old son, Robert Knight Couzens.[4][8] Virginia Couzens (née Lucas) was a granddaughter of Robert Lucas, first governor of the Iowa Territory.[9] The Couzens' marriage license was issued on April 14, 1909, in San Francisco when both were aged 38.[10] Virginia Couzens died in January 1940.[11]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Contemporary newspaper reports of his death in 1914 gave his name as Harry D. Couzens.[1][2]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d "Story Writer is Laid Away". The Arizona Republic. Phoenix, Arizona. May 21, 1914. p. 8. Retrieved May 8, 2022 – via newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "Harry Couzens, Noted Writer, Called by Death". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. June 22, 1914. p. 1. Retrieved May 8, 2022 – via newspapers.com.
  3. ^ Sai S (2013-10-18). "Pulp Flakes: H. D. Couzens - Auto-biography in Campfire – Adventure, April 10, 1922". Pulpflakes.blogspot.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-08-06.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Doug Ellis, "Introduction", to H. D. Couzens, King Corrigan's Treasure: The Collected Adventures of Billy Englehart. Normal, IL : Black Dog Books, 2011. ISBN 978-1884449116 (pp. 7-18).
  5. ^ a b c Doug Ellis, "Introduction" in The Best of Adventure. Volume 1, 1910-1912. Normal, IL : Black Dog Books, 2010. ISBN 1928619975 (p.11)
  6. ^ "Stories, Listed by Author". Philsp.com. Retrieved 2014-08-06.
  7. ^ "The contents of the Christmas number of "Cassell's" include..."Brethren of the Beach" [is]the title of a complete book-length novel by H. D. Couzens." "Magazines", article in the Western Mail, Perth, Western Australia. 11 January 1923 (p.39).
  8. ^ "Draft Registration Card". Selective Service System. October 1940. Retrieved May 8, 2022 – via fold3.com.
  9. ^ Waggoner, Elizabeth (February 8, 1910). "Art Notes (column)". Los Angeles Herald. p. 6. Retrieved May 8, 2022 – via newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Marriage Licenses". The San Francisco Call. April 15, 1909. p. 4. Retrieved May 8, 2022 – via newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Wife Bears Son As Mother Dies". Oakland Tribune. January 5, 1940. p. 14. Retrieved May 8, 2022 – via newspapers.com.