Peter Clark MacFarlane

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Peter Clark MacFarlane (March 8, 1871 – June 9, 1924) was an American novelist and public speaker. He was born in Saint Clair County, Missouri.

Early life and career
- He worked as a railroad clerk before going to college. He studied at Florida Agricultural College and then studied theology in Berkeley, California, graduating in 1905.
- He served seven years as a pastor in Alameda, California, and was the Secretary of the Brotherhood of Disciples of Christ. He later left the ministry to become an actor and lecturer.

Public life and writings
- In 1912 he wrote a critique of Woodrow Wilson. In 1922 he spoke at a San Jose rally in support of Senator Johnson. He corresponded with Theodore Roosevelt, and Hiram Johnson called him one of the best orators of his time.
- He joined the U.S. military in World War I to improve his writing. He served with the Second Army Division in Germany, then with the Seventy-Seventh for action at Vesle, and later with the Marines at St. Mihiel. After the war, he spent 1921–1922 lecturing on the Chautauqua circuit.
- MacFarlane was frequently published in The American Magazine, Collier’s, and the Saturday Evening Post, where his political articles drew attention.

Works and adaptations
- The 1919 comedy Molly of the Follies was based on his story "The Side-Show Girl." The 1924 film Tongues of Flame was adapted from his novel of the same name.

Personal life and death
- He was married twice: first to Emma D. Garfield (who died in 1908), and then to Florence E. Judson, who survived him.
- MacFarlane died by suicide in the San Francisco morgue on June 9, 1924, leaving a note about his incurable kidney disease and the mental strain of self-expression.