HARRIS

harris, joel chandler (1848-1908), american author, was born in eatonton, putnam county, georgia, on the 8th of december 1848. he started as an apprentice to the printer's trade in the office of the _countryman_, a weekly paper published on a plantation not far from his home. he then studied law, and practised for a short time in forsyth, ga., but soon took to journalism. he joined the staff of the savannah _daily news_ in 1871, and in 1876 that of the atlanta _constitution_, of which he was an editor from 1890 to 1901, and in this capacity did much to further the cause of the new south. but his most distinctive contribution to this paper, and to american literature, consisted of his dialect pieces dealing with negro life and folk-lore. his stories are characterized by quaint humour, poetic feeling and homely philosophy; and "uncle remus," the principal character of most of them, is a remarkably vivid and real creation. the first collection of his stories was published in 1880 as _uncle remus: his songs and his sayings_. among his later works are _nights with uncle remus_ (1883), _mingo and other sketches in black and white_ (1884), _free joe and other georgian sketches_ (1887), _balaam and his master and other sketches and stories_ (1891), _uncle remus and his friends_ (1892), _on the plantation_ (1892), which is partly autobiographic, _sister jane_ (1896), the _chronicles of aunt minervy ann_ (1899), and _the tar-baby and other rhymes of uncle remus_ (1904). more purely juvenile are _daddy jake the runaway and other stories_ (1889), _little mr thimblefinger and his queer country_ (1894) and its sequel _mr rabbit at home_ (1895), _aaron in the wildwoods_ (1897), _plantation pageants_ (1899), _told by uncle remus_ (1905), and _uncle remus and br'er rabbit_ (1907). he was one of the compilers of the _life of henry w. grady_, including his _writings and speeches_ (1890) and wrote _stories of georgia_ (1896), and georgia from the invasion of de soto to recent times (1899). he died in atlanta on the 3rd of july 1908.