Charles Macomb Flandrau (1871–1938), was an American author and essayist.
Early life and education
Flandrau was born on December 9, 1871, in St. Paul, Minnesota. He was the son of Judge Charles Eugene Flandrau and his second wife Rebecca Blair Flandrau. He had a younger brother, William Blair McClure Flandrau. Charles attended school in St. Paul in his lower years, and went to Massachusetts for college, graduating from Harvard University (1895), where he was a student of Charles Townsend Copeland. He was editor of the Harvard's Monthly and the Advocate. He was a member of the Lampoon, the Hasty Pudding Club and The Delphic Club.
Career
In his early post-college years, Flandrau taught English literature at Harvard College (1895–1896), tutored overseas (1896), and was an editor for The Youth's Companion in New York City (1897).
Flandrau published his debut novel, Harvard Episodes (1897), which was a collection of stories about contemporary college life. It was said to be "the first realistic description of undergraduate life in American colleges" and its first printing sold out in a few weeks. That success encouraged Flandrau to write a second book about college, The Diary of a Freshman (1901).
George Horace Lorimer commissioned Flandrau to write several stories which were published in the Saturday Evening Post, Bellman, and other magazines. From 1899 to 1902 he was one of the most popular contributors to the Post.
After an extended visit to his brother William's Mexican coffee plantation, Flandrau wrote Viva Mexico! (1908). This travel book was critically acclaimed for its observations of social customs and political life under Mexican president Porfirio Díaz.
