Harold Bell Wright was an American author of fiction, essays, and nonfiction who lived from May 4, 1872, to May 24, 1944. He had an extremely successful career, however, it was generally forgotten or neglected after the middle of the 20th century. He is credited as being the first American author to sell a million copies of a book and the first to earn $1 million from writing fiction. Wright produced 19 books, several plays, and several magazine pieces between 1902 and 1942. Wright's stories inspired more than 15 films, including Gary Cooper's first significant motion picture, The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926), and John Wayne's The Shepherd of the Hills (1941). He composed a theatrical story titled That Printer of Udell's in 1902 while serving as pastor of the Christian Church in Pittsburg, Kansas. He intended to present one chapter of the story to his congregation at subsequent Sunday night meetings. Wright resigned as pastor of the Redlands, California, Christian Church in 1905 after the success of The Shepherd of the Hills, his first book to sell one million copies. He then relocated to a ranch close to El Centro, California, and spent the remainder of his life penning popular novels.