Paul Kester

(1870-1933)

  Paul Kester was an internationally popular writer of plays and dramatizations during the early 20th century. He was born in Delaware County, Ohio in 1870, the son of Franklin and Harriet (Watkins) Kester. Not much detail about the family is known. Biographers report that Paul spent his early years in Mount Vernon, Ohio. He was educated by tutors in Mount Vernon and Cleveland. The family also spent some time in Florida.
   In about 1892 he moved east with his older brother Vaughn. Most of his adult life he lived in New York and Virginia, with a few years spent in England. Paul died in 1933 in Lake Mohegan, New York.    Paul wrote plays, dramatizations, novels, short stories, and at least one book of political philosophy. He also had some poetry published in periodicals. One of his early publications was a book of “tales” about gypsies, based on his association with gypsies camped along the Kokosing River in Knox County. His plays were staged in theaters in New York and London, and at least one was made into a silent movie. His novel, His Own Country, was a significant book dealing with race relations in the South.

 

Paul Kester's Publications

Plays & Dramatizations Beverly’s Balance (1915) The Cavalier (1902) The Countess Roudine (1892) The Course of True Love The Cousin of the King    (with his brother, Vaughan) Don Quixote (1908)    (from novel by Cervantes, 1605) Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hall (1903)    (from a novel by Charles Major, 1902) England Armen Friend Hannah (1928) In the Palace of the King Lady Dedlock (1928) The Looker-on (with his brother, Vaughan) Mademoiselle Mars Meg Merriles Nell Quinn The Night Must Fall (1906) Student of Salmanace Sweet Nell of Old Drury (1900) Tom Sawyer (1931)    (from novel by Mark Twain, 1876) What Dreams May Come When Knighthood Was in Flower (1901)    (from a novel by Charles Major (1898);    (silent movie, 1902) The Woman of Bronze (1920) Zamar Books Conservative Democracy (1919) non-fiction Diana Dauntless (1929) The Hand of the Mighty, and Other Stories (1913) His Own Country (1917) Tales of the Real Gypsies (1897)