Albert Richard Wetjen
- Writer
Albert Richard Wetjen was a London born American novelist, short story
writer and journalist, probably best remembered for his sea stories
that appeared in the Saturday Evening Post and other publications. He
was born on 20 August, 1900 and ran away to sea while in his early
teens where he would survive two shipwrecks and a brief incarceration
with his shipmates by the Sultan of Zanzibar. During The First World
War, Wetjen would see action as a merchant marine and later serving
with the British Army's Manchester Regiment, earning the Mercantile
Marine Medal, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. A few years
after the war, Wetjen began working his way across Canada doing odd
jobs, eventually finding himself south of the border working as a
reporter on the Harrisburg Bulletin in Harrisburg, Oregon.
In 1926 Wetjen was awarded the O' Henry prize for his short story "Command" that was published in Sea Stories Magazine. Wetjen would later say he was inspired to write after reading Jack London's "Martin Eden". At the time he remembered thinking, "Well if one lug can make it, why not another?".
A prolific writer, Wetjen's stories appeared in numerous magazines and pulp fiction publications for over twenty years. His writings enabled him to return to the sea and travel the world. Wetjen spent a considerable amount of time exploring the Australian Outback and later chronicling what he had seen and the people he met. He was particularly impressed with the Australian Mounted Police and would later write about their exploits. Wetjen also enjoyed on occasion working odd jobs on Hollywood movie sets.
Albert Richard Wetjen was a large man often seen puffing on a cigar. He passed away unexpectedly on 8 March, 1948, in San Francisco, his home since the early 1930s. He was survived by his mother Lillian and two sisters, all living in London. Wetjen was married for 19 years to Edith Cecelia Eisenbrandt of Duluth, Minnesota, before they divorced in 1942.
Source: Petition of Citizenship 4 November, 1931, Oakland Tribune (Oakland, California) 6 April, 1944, New York Times 10 March, 1948
In 1926 Wetjen was awarded the O' Henry prize for his short story "Command" that was published in Sea Stories Magazine. Wetjen would later say he was inspired to write after reading Jack London's "Martin Eden". At the time he remembered thinking, "Well if one lug can make it, why not another?".
A prolific writer, Wetjen's stories appeared in numerous magazines and pulp fiction publications for over twenty years. His writings enabled him to return to the sea and travel the world. Wetjen spent a considerable amount of time exploring the Australian Outback and later chronicling what he had seen and the people he met. He was particularly impressed with the Australian Mounted Police and would later write about their exploits. Wetjen also enjoyed on occasion working odd jobs on Hollywood movie sets.
Albert Richard Wetjen was a large man often seen puffing on a cigar. He passed away unexpectedly on 8 March, 1948, in San Francisco, his home since the early 1930s. He was survived by his mother Lillian and two sisters, all living in London. Wetjen was married for 19 years to Edith Cecelia Eisenbrandt of Duluth, Minnesota, before they divorced in 1942.
Source: Petition of Citizenship 4 November, 1931, Oakland Tribune (Oakland, California) 6 April, 1944, New York Times 10 March, 1948
