A clever and popular writer is Francis M. Crawford, who was born at
Bagni-di-Lucca, Italy, August 2, 1854. He is a son of Thomas Crawford,
the sculptor, and comes of a long line of literary and artistic
ancestors. Francis was educated in New York schools, subsequently
entering Harvard, but did not complete his course there. He was also
a student at Cambridge university, England, and at the universities of
Karlsruhe and Heidelberg, Germany, and the university of Rome, where he
gave special attention to Sanscrit. In 1873 Mr. Crawford was compelled
by circumstances to adopt journalism as a means of livelihood. Some
years later he turned his attention to literature proper, his first
book, Mr. Isaacs, appearing in 1882. Among his other well-known works
are A Cigarette Maker’s Romance, The Three Fates, Zoroaster, etc. He is
also an artist of considerable ability and has traveled extensively. He
and his wife and children live near Sorrento, Italy.