Educated for a time at a business school, Kyne took various jobs before entering the army during the Spanish-American War. He served with Company L 14th Infantry and also took part in the Philippine Insurrection. After the war, he again worked at a variety of jobs before landing a reporter position at the San Francisco Morning Call in 1905. He married in 1910 and began publishing short stories in leading magazines such as Saturday Evening Post, Cosmopolitan and Colliers. In 1913, he published his first novel, The Three Godfathers, which became a huge success and catapulted him onto the literary scene. The book was subsequently made into a film on a number of occasions. He followed this with a series of highly popular works including Cappy Ricks (1916) and Valley of Giants (1918). During the First World War, he served as a captain in Battery A of the 144th Field Artillery. In 1920, he published Kindred of the Dust, which became a best-seller. Many of Kyne's books were made into films and he was one of America's favorite authors during the 1920's. Kyne's fortunes began to falter during the late 1930's and he was fined for income tax evasion in 1939. His output declined thereafter. His other works include The Long Chance (1914), Webster, Man's Man (1917), The Pride of Palomar (1921), The Go-Getter (1922), Cappy Ricks Retires (1922), Never the Twain Shall Meet (1923), Outlaws of Eden (1927), Golden Dawn (1930), Cappy Ricks Comes Back (1934), Cappy Ricks Special (1935), Soldiers, Sailors and Dogs (1936), The Parson of Panamint and Other Stories (1936) and Dude Woman (1940). |
