Richard Harding Davis (1864-1916) was an American writer and journalist, born in Philadelphia, and educated at Lehigh and Johns Hopkins universities. He began as a reporter in Philadelphia. In 1890 he was managing editor of Harper's Weekly. He served as war correspondent for the London Times and the New York Herald during the Greco-Turkish (1897), Spanish-American (1898), South African (1899-1902), and Russo-Japanese (1904-5) wars; and he represented the New York Tribune in Mexico in 1914. During World War I he was correspondent with the French and British armies in Serbia.Among his most popular writings are Gallegher and Other Stories (1891), Soldiers of Fortune (1897), The Bar Sinister (1903), The Man Who Could Not Lose (1911); the plays Ranson's Folly (1904), The Dictator (1904), and Miss Civilization (1906); and many travel books. " He may or may not have been a born writer; sometimes I doubt whether there is such a thing as a born writer. But this much I do know - he was a born gentleman if ever there was one. As a writer his place is assured. But always I shall think of him as he was in his private life - a typical American, a lovable companion, and a man to the tips of his fingers."