Poyntz Tyler

John Poyntz Tyler (May 30, 1906 – March 23, 1971) is the author of the 1960 novel A Garden of Cucumbers, which was the basis for the 1967 film Fitzwilly. He was also the compiler-editor for the Reference Shelf book series in the 1950s and 60s for the HW Wilson Company in New York City. He is the son of Episcopal bishop John Poyntz Tyler. Tyler was born is Ashland, Virginia, and educated at the Agassiz School in Fargo, North Dakota, where his father was the Episcopal bishop, the Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Virginia, and the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. He was on the debate team in high school, known as the Blackford Literary Society. He worked for various magazines and newspapers, as well as for Westinghouse Electric Company, United Cerebral Palsy, and the U.S. Army. He lived on East 57th Street in New York City in 1960 and claimed to be an honorary Sioux.