Thomas Bailey Aldrich

Thomas Bailey Aldrich ( AWL-dritch; November 11, 1836 – March 19, 1907) was an American writer, poet, critic, and editor. He is notable for his long editorship of The Atlantic Monthly, during which he published writers including Charles W. Chesnutt. He was also known for his semi-autobiographical book The Story of a Bad Boy, which established the "bad boy's book" subgenre in nineteenth-century American literature, and for his poetry.

Thomas Bailey Aldrich was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on November 11, 1836, to Elias T. Aldrich and Sara Aldrich, née Bailey. When Aldrich was a child, his father moved to New Orleans, but after 10 years, Aldrich was sent back to Portsmouth to prepare for college. This period of his life is partly described in his semi-autobiographical novel The Story of a Bad Boy (1870), in which "Tom Bailey" is the juvenile hero.