Albert Payson Terhune (December 21, 1872 - February 18, 1942) was an American author, dog breeder, and journalist. The public knows him best for his novels relating the adventures of his beloved collies and as a breeder of collies at his Sunnybank Kennels, the lines of which still exist in today's Rough Collies. As a tribute to Terhune, the dog in A Boy and His Dog calls his master Albert. The 1969 novella was written by Harlan Ellison. The 1975 film was directed by L.Q. Jones.Albert Payson Terhune was born in New Jersey to Mary Virginia Hawes and the Reverend Edward Payson Terhune. His mother, Mary Virginia Hawes, was a writer of household management books and pre-Civil War novels under the name Marion Harland. Terhune had four sisters and one brother, though only two of his sisters lived to be adults: Christine Terhune Herrick (1859-1944); and Virginia Terhune Van De Water (1865-1945). Sunnybank (41.0012°N 74.2755°W) was originally the family's summer home, with Terhune making it his permanent residence in 1912. He was educated at Columbia University where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1893. From 1894 to 1914, he worked as a reporter for The Evening World.