James Connolly

October 28, 1868 (age 88)

Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Connolly worked as a clerk with an insurance company in Boston and later with the United States Army Corps of Engineers in Savannah, Georgia. His predisposition to sport also became apparent. Calling a special meeting of the Catholic Library Association (CLA) of Savannah in 1891, he was instrumental in forming a football team. Soon thereafter, Connolly was elected captain of the CLA Cycling Club and aggressively sought to promote the sport on behalf of the Savannah Wheelmen. After the creation of the International Olympic Committee in 1894 the first modern edition of the Olympic Games were scheduled for April 6 to 15, 1896 in Athens, Greece. On the opening day of the Games, Connolly won the hop-step and-jump contest. The memory of his victory that day later became the inspiration for a novel. An Olympic Victor: A Story of the Modem Games, published in 1908. After Connolly's Olympic victory, he served a short time with an infantry in Cuba during the Spanish-American War followed by his return to the sea. Back in Boston, he accepted a job working on a cattle boat en route to Liverpool. Upon his return he moved to Gloucester, Massachusetts, where he coached football and spent his free time with the local seamen, who gave him the inspiration and firsthand experience to write short stories about their way of life. After attending the Olympic Games again in 1900, Connolly returned to Boston. There he wrote "A Chase Overnight" and "From Reykjavik to Gloucester," his first stories about the Gloucester fishermen, both published in Scribner's Magazine in 1901 (the stories were later included in his collection of short stories, Gloucestermen, published in 1930). Fearing that the Gloucester fishermen he had come to admire might accuse him of writing about a subject that he knew nothing of, Connolly spent the winter following the publication of his stories sailing and fishing off the dangerous Georges Bank. The time he spent that winter resulted in more realistic stories, including "Dory Mates," first printed in Scribner's Magazine in 1905. The story was published in the collection The Deep Sea's Toll later that year. Connolly served with the U.S. Navy from 1907 to 1908. Years later, he wrote about the kinds of men he had met during this time who, though in a different way than the Gloucester fishermen, had also dedicated their lives to the sea. Navy Men was published in 1939 and was largely based on real incidents that took place in the period of 1898 to 1918. Open Water, published in 1910 contained more sea stories along with stories life on land. Expanding on Connolly's cast of characters, the nine stories in the book also told about emigrants, a professional runner, and even an old grandmother. In 1914, Connolly published the story "The Trawler" in Collier's, winning him the magazine's prize for short fiction. In this story Connolly returned to his most successful subject, the Gloucester fisherman. "The Trawler" was later republished in Connelly's 1916 collection, Head Winds. This book also included stories about America's relationship with Mexico, about adventures along the Mississippi River and in Mexico, and about an Irish family that immigrated to the United States. By the end of his career, which lasted well into his seventies, James Brendan Connolly died on January 20, 1957 aged 88 in Brookline, Massachusetts, United States.

James Brendan Connolly Edit Profile

also known as James Brendan Bennet "Jamie" Connolly

military athlete author

Background

James Brendan Connolly was born on October 28, 1868, to poor Irish immigrants from the Aran Islands, fisherman John Connolly and Ann O'Donnell, as one of twelve children, in South Boston, Massachusetts. Growing up at a time when the parks and playground movement in Boston was slowly developing, Connolly joined other boys in the streets and vacant lots to run, jump, and play ball.

Education

James was educated at Notre Dame Academy and then at the Mather and Lawrence grammar school, but never went to high school.

Connolly sought to regain the lost years of high school through self-education. In October 1895, he sat for the entrance examination to the Lawrence Scientific School and was unconditionally accepted to study the classics at Harvard University.

Career

Connolly worked as a clerk with an insurance company in Boston and later with the United States Army Corps of Engineers in Savannah, Georgia.

His predisposition to sport also became apparent. Calling a special meeting of the Catholic Library Association (CLA) of Savannah in 1891, he was instrumental in forming a football team. Soon thereafter, Connolly was elected captain of the CLA Cycling Club and aggressively sought to promote the sport on behalf of the Savannah Wheelmen.

After the creation of the International Olympic Committee in 1894 the first modern edition of the Olympic Games were scheduled for April 6 to 15, 1896 in Athens, Greece.

On the opening day of the Games, Connolly won the hop-step and-jump contest. The memory of his victory that day later became the inspiration for a novel. An Olympic Victor: A Story of the Modem Games, published in 1908.

After Connolly's Olympic victory, he served a short time with an infantry in Cuba during the Spanish-American War followed by his return to the sea. Back in Boston, he accepted a job working on a cattle boat en route to Liverpool. Upon his return he moved to Gloucester, Massachusetts, where he coached football and spent his free time with the local seamen, who gave him the inspiration and firsthand experience to write short stories about their way of life. After attending the Olympic Games again in 1900, Connolly returned to Boston. There he wrote "A Chase Overnight" and "From Reykjavik to Gloucester," his first stories about the Gloucester fishermen, both published in Scribner's Magazine in 1901 (the stories were later included in his collection of short stories, Gloucestermen, published in 1930). Fearing that the Gloucester fishermen he had come to admire might accuse him of writing about a subject that he knew nothing of, Connolly spent the winter following the publication of his stories sailing and fishing off the dangerous Georges Bank. The time he spent that winter resulted in more realistic stories, including "Dory Mates," first printed in Scribner's Magazine in 1905. The story was published in the collection The Deep Sea's Toll later that year.

Connolly served with the U.S. Navy from 1907 to 1908. Years later, he wrote about the kinds of men he had met during this time who, though in a different way than the Gloucester fishermen, had also dedicated their lives to the sea. Navy Men was published in 1939 and was largely based on real incidents that took place in the period of 1898 to 1918. Open Water, published in 1910 contained more sea stories along with stories life on land. Expanding on Connolly's cast of characters, the nine stories in the book also told about emigrants, a professional runner, and even an old grandmother.

In 1914, Connolly published the story "The Trawler" in Collier's, winning him the magazine's prize for short fiction. In this story Connolly returned to his most successful subject, the Gloucester fisherman.

"The Trawler" was later republished in Connelly's 1916 collection, Head Winds. This book also included stories about America's relationship with Mexico, about adventures along the Mississippi River and in Mexico, and about an Irish family that immigrated to the United States.

By the end of his career, which lasted well into his seventies,

James Brendan Connolly died on January 20, 1957 aged 88 in Brookline, Massachusetts, United States.

Achievements

Connolly was famous as a person who had sailed on nearly every kind of navy ship and had written dozens of stories and novels about life on the seas. During his lifetime he was considered the best writer of sea stories by men as impressive as Joseph Conrad and Theodore Roosevelt.