Born of poor parents, Harris had limited education and became an apprentice to Joseph Addison Turner, a plantation owner and newspaper publisher. It is from the plantation environment that he collected the local tales and dialects that would form most of his later literary output. He began to contribute stories to several Georgia newspapers until, in 1876, he joined the Atlanta Constitution, where he became a noted journalist. In 1881, under the pseudonym of Uncle Remus, Chandler published Uncle Remus: His Songs and His Sayings which was immensely popular and which included such memorable characters as Brer Rabbit and Brer Fox. Further collections followed over the ensuing years. He retired from the Constitution in 1900 and was subsequently named to the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Although he is best remembered for his Uncle Remus tales, Chandler was a gifted and much respected journalist who wrote thousands of articles during his lifetime. His other works include The Romance of Rockville (1878), Mingo and Other Sketches in Black and White (1884), Free Joe and Other Georgia Sketches (1887), Balaam and His Master and Other Sketches and Stories (1891), The Story of Aaron (1894), The Chronicles of Aunt Minervy Ann (1899), Plantation Pageants (1899) and Told by Uncle Remus: New Stories of the Old Plantation (1905). |
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