S.S. Van Dine

S.S. Van Dine is the nom de plume of a very popular American writer and art critic named Willard Huntington Wright, who was famous for writing detective novels. He is best remembered for creating the 1920s popular fictional character, Detective Philo Vance. This character was immensely well known on radio programs and in movies besides featuring in Van Dine’s books. Author Van Dine was considered an important figure in the cultural circles of the avant-grade during the pre-First World War era in New York. He had adopted the pen name to keep his real identity concealed in the literary world. Author Van Dine was born on October 15, 1888, in Charlottesville, Virginia. His younger brother named Stanton Macdonald-Wright was a well-known painter and the co-founder of Synchromism, a modern art school.