Richard Harding Davis 1864—1916

Richard Harding Davis was a popular writer of fiction and drama, and a journalist famous for his coverage of the Spanish-American War, the Second Boer War, and the First World War. Davis made his reputation as a newspaper reporter in May to June 1889, by reporting on the devastation of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, following the infamous flood and added to his reputation by reporting on events such as the first electrocution of a criminal. Davis became a managing editor of Harper’s Weekly, and was one of the world’s leading war correspondents at the time of the Second Boer War in South Africa. As an American, he had the unique opportunity to see the war first-hand from both the British and Boer perspectives. Davis also worked as a reporter for the New York Herald, The Times, and Scribner’s Magazine. He was popular among the leading writers of his time and despite his alleged association with Yellow journalism, his writings of life and travel in Central America, the Caribbean, Rhodesia, South Africa during the Second Boer War were widely published. (source: Wikipedia)