John Thomas McIntyre (26 November 1871 – 21 May 1951) was an American playwright, and novelist of mystery and crime fiction. Life McIntyre was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 26 November 1871 to Irish immigrants, Sarah Walker (1848–1885) and Patrick McIntyre (circa 1842–1871) (who died the month after he was born). He grew up in the Kensington neighborhood and attended St. Michael's School (2nd & Jefferson Streets) and then the Harrison Grammar School (Master Street west of 2nd Street, formerly called The West Kensington School). His family consistently shows up in the U.S. Federal Census records as living in Kensington from 1860 to 1800 on Byron Place, a courtyard east of Germantown Avenue below Master Street, then in 1900 John T. McIntyre is enumerated as a boarder at 126 W. Girard Avenue, near Howard Street. He left school after 8th grade when his mother died, was raised by an aunt, and was working full-time by the age of fourteen. He worked for the stock company of the South Street Standard Theatre, writing a new play each week based on a set of posters produced for the theater's entrance. He also worked as a free-lance journalist for Philadelphia newspapers such as the Philadelphia Press. In 1898, he started writing his first novel, a political drama set in the wards along the Schuylkill River and Philadelphia waterfront, titled The Ragged Edge. The only copy of his manuscript was stolen during an express company robbery and it took him nearly a year to rewrite the book from memory. The book was published by McClure, Phillips in 1902 and is now considered an early example of the urban Irish-American political novel. McIntyre was also known as an authority on the history of the dime novel. In 1912, Steve, was produced by Arthur Hopkins. In 1919, A Young Man's Fancy, his most well-known play, was produced by George C. Tyler. In 1920, A Young Man's Fancy, was produced by George M. Cohan. However, McIntyre's successes as a serious novelist were limited and short-lived, and he relied on writing short stories, detective mysteries and juvenile fiction to make a living. He invented Ashton-Kirk, a scientific-minded criminologist, and published several books featuring his cases. He also wrote serials for newspapers about a freelance detective named Jerry Mooney. Maxwell Perkins took an interest in McIntyre and helped edit his novel of Philadelphia gangsters, Slag, which was published by