Jacques Futrelle Explained

Jacques Futrelle
Birth Name:Jacques Heath Futrelle
Birth Date:9 April 1875
Birth Place:Pike County, Georgia, US
Death Place:North Atlantic Ocean
Occupation:Mystery writer, journalist
Period:1905–1912
Genre:Detective fiction, science fiction
Spouse:Lily May Peel (1895–1912) (his death)
Children:2

Jacques Heath Futrelle (April 9, 1875 – April 15, 1912) was an American journalist and mystery writer. He is best known for writing short detective stories featuring Professor Augustus S. F. X. Van Dusen, also known as "The Thinking Machine" for his use of logic. Futrelle died in the sinking of the RMS Titanic.

Career

Futrelle was born in Pike County, Georgia. He worked for the Atlanta Journal, where he began their sports section, the New York Herald, the Boston Post and the Boston American, where, in 1905, his Thinking Machine character appeared in a serialized version of the short story, "The Problem of Cell 13".

Futrelle left the Boston American in 1906 to write novels. He had a harbor-view house built in Scituate, Massachusetts, which he called "Stepping Stones", and spent most of his time there until his death in 1912.[1] His last work, My Lady's Garter, was published posthumously in 1912. His widow inscribed in the book, "To the heroes of the Titanic, I dedicate this my husband's book", under a photo of him.[1]

Personal life

In 1895, he married fellow writer Lily May Peel with whom he had two children, Virginia and Jacques "John" Jr. His great-grandson is writer David Futrelle.[1]

Death

Returning from Europe aboard the RMS Titanic, Futrelle, a first-class passenger, refused to board a lifeboat, insisting Lily do so instead, to the point of forcing her in. She remembered the last she saw of him: he was smoking a cigarette on deck with John Jacob Astor IV. He perished in the Atlantic and his body was never found.[2] [3] On July 29, 1912, Futrelle's mother, Linnie Futrelle, died in her Georgia home; her death was attributed to grief over her son.[4]

In popular culture

Futrelle is used as the protagonist in Max Allan Collins' disaster series novel The Titanic Murders (1999), about two murders aboard the Titanic.[5]

Selected works

Novels

Short story collections

Short stories

See Augustus S. F. X. Van Dusen and JacquesFutrelle.com for more stories.

In this literary experiment, The Thinking Machine provides a rational solution to the seemingly impossible and supernatural events of a ghost story written by Mrs. Futrelle.[14] [15]

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: No Escape: Jacques Futrelle and the Titanic. Marks, Jeffrey A. . Mystery Scene magazine. August 17, 2016 .
  2. Web site: Biography: Jacques Futrelle. Encyclopedia Titanica.
  3. News: The New York Times. Futrelle Refused to Enter Lifeboat; His Wife Tells How He Parted with Her on Titanic, Commanding Her to Save Herself. April 19, 1912. 6.
  4. News: Futrelle's Mother is Dead; Sinks from Grief Following Loss of Son on the Titanic . New York Times. July 30, 1912. 1.
  5. Web site: Pierce. J. Kingston. A Case to Remember. January Magazine. April 1999. September 22, 2023.
  6. Web site: The chase of the golden plate WorldCat.org . 2023-07-31 . www.worldcat.org . en.
  7. Web site: The simple case of Susan WorldCat.org . 2023-07-31 . www.worldcat.org . en.
  8. . Retrieved 2019-06-20.
  9. During February 1914 Variety reports the 3-reeler done, quoted here (Feb 13, p. 23), and ready for March 4 (Feb 27, p. 22)
  10. Web site: The high hand WorldCat.org . 2023-07-31 . www.worldcat.org . en.
  11. Web site: My lady's garter WorldCat.org . 2023-07-31 . www.worldcat.org . en.
  12. Web site: Blind Man's Buff WorldCat.org . 2023-07-31 . www.worldcat.org . en.
  13. Web site: The Phantom Motor. Futrelle, Jacques. Jacques Futrelle. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20160226104448/http://www.futrelle.com/stories/ThePhantomMotor.html. 2016-02-26.
  14. Book: Futrelle, Jacques . Tales of the Thinking Machine . The Grinning God . . https://web.archive.org/web/20190620182233/https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/f/futrelle/jacques/tales-of-the-thinking-machine/chapter29.html . 2019-06-20 . dead . 2021-09-15. A note at the head of Part II implies publication in The Sunday Magazine (undated online):"Editor's Note. – Mrs. Futrelle undertook to set up a problem which The Thinking Machine could not solve. 'Wraiths of the Storm', in The Sunday Magazine last week, presented what she thought to be a mystery story impossible of solution. Printer's proofs of the story were submitted to Mr. Futrelle, who, after frequent consultations with Professor Van Dusen – The Thinking Machine – evolved 'The House that Was' as the perfect solution."
  15. http://www.thelockedroom.com/2014/04/the-grinning-god-by-may-jacques-futrelle.html "The Grinning God by May & Jacques Futrelle"

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