Bret Harte was an American author and poet, best remembered for his accounts of pioneering life in California. Harte moved to California in 1853, and worked there in a number of capacities -- as a miner, a teacher, a messenger, and a journalist. His story, "The Luck of Roaring Camp," appearing in The Overland Monthly magazine, propelled Harte to nationwide fame. "A Sappho of Green Springs" features a recurring Harte character, the gambler Jack Hamlin. A caller has come to the offices of the Excelsior magazine, seeking the identity of a writer. He's a lumberman from Mendocino, struck by the truth of a poem submitted by a writer known as White Violet, and hopes to meet her. The editor explains that he cannot give out identities, but will write to White Violet if desired, and if the author consents, provide an address. Jack reads the poem, agrees on its merits, and makes a bet with the editor that he can find the writer. Jack is a gambler, but this is a different sort of bet.

Author Biography

Francis Bret Harte (1836 - 1902) was an American short story writer and poet, best remembered for his short fiction featuring miners, gamblers and other romantic figures of the California Gold Rush. In a career spanning more than four decades, he wrote poetry, fiction, plays, lectures, book reviews, editorials and magazine sketches in addition to fiction. As he moved from California to the eastern U.S. to Europe, he incorporated new subjects and characters into his stories but his Gold Rush tales have been most often reprinted, adapted and admired.