Victor Appleton (1873 - 1962)

Victor Appleton was the pseudonym used by Howard R. Garis for thirty-five of the stories and novels featuring the character of Tom Swift.

Garis was born on April 25th, 1873 in Binghamton, New York. He was a newspaper reporter for the Evening News. Garis married Lilian C. Garis on April 26th, 1900. Lilian was a prolific writer of fiction for the Stratemeyer Syndicate (which was responsible for nearly 1,600 series books), for which Garis also wrote.

Garis wrote numerous books as a ghostwriter: as Victor Appleton, Laura Lee Hope, Lester Chadwick, Roy Rockwood, and Clarence Young. He reserved his own name for writing the children's series of Uncle Wiggily Longears stories, which featured an elderly, gentleman rabbit. The books are still read today.

Garis died in Amherst, Massachusetts on November 6th, 1962.

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