Samuel A. Derieux


Samuel Arthur Derieux was an American writer, known especially for short stories, set in the South, about dogs, hunting, or both.
He was born in Richmond, Virginia in 1881. His undergraduate education was in the South, at Wofford College from 1897 to 1899, and at Richmond College, where he received his B.A. in 1904. He spent two years of graduate work at Johns Hopkins, and received his M.A. at University of Chicago in 1910.
He worked as an assistant professor of English at Richmond, Missouri State Normal School, and Wake Forest.
Derieux had already published a few stories, and in 1917 he joined the editorial staff in the New York offices of The American Magazine, where he then published one in each of the next two years, and two to six a year thereafter. He was among the winners of an O. Henry memorial award in the awards' first year, and was the first author to accumulate three of the awards. He died in Manhattan of appendicitis at the age of 41 on February 25, 1922.

A Boy and His Dog

In 1946, Derieux received posthumous story credit for the short film A Boy and His Dog. addressed as "Jim Kirby", and referred to as "Squire Jim Kirby", in the story, which corresponds to the film cast's character being specified as "Squire Jim Kirby". The story parallels in essentials the plot summary for A Boy and His Dog that is attributed to David Glagovsky by the Internet Movie Database. While they agree in starting the action on Friday, the film's summary is more detailed in specifying Monday as the day of the trial; the story simply says "Then one afternoon...", following a Saturday of hunting by an unknown interval, and places the trial on the day following the consequently unspecified afternoon.

Writings

  • "The Little Boy in the Blackberry Patch"*
  • "Blood Money"*
  • "The Call of Home"*
  • Her Sammy
  • The Magnet
  • Frank of Freedom Hill
  • The Destiny of Dan VI*
  • "The Crisis in Room 25"*
  • "Paradise Regained"*
  • "One Friend Jim Taylor Lacked"
  • "The Trial in Tom Belcher's Store"*
  • "Old Frank Sees It Through"*
  • "Terrible Charge Against Jeff Potter"
  • "The Pursuit"*
  • "Old Frank to the Rescue"
  • "The Bolter"*
  • "The Most Wonderful Bird Dog in the World"
  • "Old Mac and Young Doc"
  • "Joe Goes After the Doctor"
  • "The Comet"
  • "An Act of God"*
  • "Invisible Huntsman"
  • "Billy Thompson’s Plan for Revenge"
  • "Old Gideon—Detective"
  • "Wild Bill McCorkle"
  • The Sixth Shot Frank of Freedom Hill
  • "Bird Dogs I Have Known"
  • Animal Personalities
  • "Sheriff"