Henry Payson Dowst

Who was Henry Payson Dowst?

Henry Payson Dowst was an American novelist and short-story writer active in the early twentieth century. Born on December 15, 1876 in Bangor, Maine and educated at Bangor High School, Dowst was a graduate of the Harvard class of 1899, and lived briefly in Calais, Maine before becoming General Manager of the Boston publishing house Maynard & Co. In 1916 he want to work for a New York advertising agency, Frank Seaman, Inc., where he remained until his death at age 45.

Despite his day-jobs, Dowst was a prolific contributor of short stories and novelettes to magazines like The Saturday Evening Post, People's Favorite Magazine, and Argosy All-Story Weekly. One bibliography has identified 35 Dowst stories published between 1913 and 1923, though the list is not exhaustive. He also wrote at least two novels in the same period, Bostwick's Budget and The Man from Ashaluna, the second of which was produced as a film in 1924 starring Kenneth Harlan. Four Dowst short stories were also filmed in his lifetime: An Honest Man, The Redhead, The Dancin' Fool, and Smiling All the Way.