Perhaps the British own the copyright on the name Winston Churchill, but it was a young American writer from Missouri who first made the name Winston Churchill popular back in 1899.
Born in St. Louis, Missouri, on 10 November 1871, American novelist, essayist and poet Winston Churchill was only 28 when he became an instant celebrity with the publication of his second book Richard Carvel, the dramatic tale of a young boy's adventures at sea during the Revolutionary War.
The book sold more than 2 million copies at a time when the population of the United States was less than 76 million.
Richard Carvel is set near Annapolis, Maryland, and Churchill became very familiar with the region while attending the U.S. Naval Academy between 1890 and 1894.
After college, young Winston moved to New York and worked briefly as the editor of Cosmopolitan magazine (1895). His first novel, a romantic intrigue titled The Celebrity, appeared in 1897 to mild reviews. Richard Carvel first appeared in 1899 and was still standing at No. 8 on the best-seller list throughout the year 1900. It was soon followed by The Crisis (1901) and The Crossing (1904), a trilogy that made Churchill one of the most successful authors of pop history prior to World War I.
Churchill retired from writing in 1919, took up painting with watercolors, and published only once more, briefly, in 1940, with a book of religious philosophy titled The Unchartered Way.
He died in Winter Park, Florida, in 1947.
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