Thomas Bailey Aldrich

About

A nineteenth-century American poet, novelist, and editor, he is best known for The Story of a Bad Boy and An Old Town by the Sea. The former work may have inspired Mark Twain's famous novel, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

Before Fame

At the age of sixteen, he began working for his uncle's New York business. He later edited Ticknor and Fields, a popular Boston-based publication.

Trivia

He edited the Atlantic Monthly during the 1880s and 1890s.

Family Life

He grew up in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. He later married and had two sons.

Associated With

He was friends with poet Walt Whitman.