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Eric Oswald Mowbray Knight (April 10, 1897 in Menston in West Yorkshire, England – January 15, 1943 in Suriname) was an English novelist and screenwriter, who is mainly notable for creating the fictional collie Lassie. He took American citizenship in 1942 shortly before his death.〔The Yale University library gazette: Volumes 65–66 Yale University. Library – 1990 "He became an American citizen in 1942, was commissioned as a captain in the Special Services Division, and died in an airplane crash in 1943. He was posthumously awarded the Legion of Merit."〕 Born in West Yorkshire, England, Knight was the third of four sons born to Frederic Harrison and Marion Hilda (née Creasser) Knight, both Quakers. His father was a rich diamond merchant who, when Eric was two years old, was killed during the Boer War. His mother then moved to St. Petersburg, Russia, to work as a governess for the imperial family. She later settled in America. Knight had a varied career, including service in the Canadian Army during World War I, and stints as an art student, newspaper reporter and Hollywood screenwriter. He married twice, first on July 28, 1917 to Dorothy Caroline Noyes Hall with whom he had three daughters and later divorced, and secondly to Jere Brylawski on December 2, 1932. Knight's first novel was ''Invitation to Life'' (Greenberg, 1934).〔(【引用サイトリンク】 title=Eric Knight. )〕 The second was ''Song on Your Bugles'' (1936) about the working class in Northern England. As "Richard Hallas", he wrote the hardboiled genre novel ''You Play The Black and The Red Comes Up'' (1938). Knight's ''This Above All'' is considered one of the significant novels of the Second World War. He also helped co-author the film, ''Battle of Britain'' in the "Why We Fight" Series under the direction of Frank Capra.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 title="Worst Air Disaster Kills 35" – NY Times Headlines Jan.22, 1943. )〕 Knight and his second wife Jere Knight raised collies on their farm in Pleasant Valley, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. They resided at Springhouse Farm from 1939 to 1943.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 National Historic Landmarks & National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania ) ''Note:'' This includes 〕 His novel ''Lassie Come-Home'' (ISBN 0030441013) appeared in 1940, expanded from a short story published in 1938 in The Saturday Evening Post. The novel was filmed by MGM in 1943 as ''Lassie Come Home'' with Roddy McDowall in the role of Joe Carraclough and canine actor Pal in the role of Lassie. The success of the novel and film generated more films and eventually several television series, cementing Lassie's icon status. The novel remains a favorite, in many reprints. One of Knight's last books was ''Sam Small Flies Again'', republished as ''The Flying Yorkshireman'' (Pocket Books 493, 1948; 273 pages). On the back of ''The Flying Yorkshireman'', this blurb appeared: In 1943, at which time he was a major in the United States Army – Special Services, Knight was killed in an air crash in Dutch Guiana (now Suriname) in South America. ==References== 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Eric Knight」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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