Gladiator
The Original Superhero

About Philip Wylie

Philip Gordon Wylie, born May 12, 1902 in Beverly, Massachusetts, was the son of Presbyterian minister Edmund Wylie, and novelist Edna Edwards, who died when Philip was 5 years old. While he was born in Massachusetts, his family later moved to Montclair, New Jersey. He attended Princeton University for three years but did not graduate.Philip was a prolific writer and novelist, having worked as a Hollywood script writer and as a contributor to many national publications. He had a keen and quizzical mind which he used to write dozens of novels and short stories. Much of his work spanned a variety of genres from speculative fiction and sci-fi, to mystery and satire, and often explored critiques of American society and the human condition. His speculative and science fiction works very likely influenced many other writers, which led to the creation of characters we know and love today such as Superman and Doc Savage. Philip was married twice and had one child, Karen Pryor, who is a prolific writer herself, notably having founded the clicker training method often used for dog training. On October 25th, 1971, Philip died of a heart attack while vacationing in Miami.