Individuals >> Fiske, Stephen Ryder (1840-1916)

Journalist, Editor, Theater Critic, Theatrical Manager, Playwright, Short Story Writer.

Stephen Ryder Fiske achieved journalistic success at a young age. He was a paid contributor to several newspapers by the time he was twelve and, two years later, he became the editor of a small newspaper. He attended Rutgers College until 1860 when he was asked to leave after he was found to be responsible for writing book chapters that satirized the college professors (D. W. Miller).

After leaving Rutgers, Fiske moved to New York City and began writing for the New York Herald. He eventually served as an editorial writer and war correspondent there as well. He also worked as a “special correspondent” who traveled the country with dignitaries such as the Prince of Wales and President Lincoln. As a journalist, Fiske maintained a keen desire to be the first person to report a story. In one notable instance, he sent Biblical passages through the telegraph in an effort to tie up the lines, thus preventing his competitors from sending their stories (D. W. Miller).

In 1862 Fiske replaced Edward G. P. Wilkins as dramatic critic at the Herald. At the time, he also accused Wilkins of reviewing productions without actually seeing them (T. Miller 46). While he worked for the Herald, Fiske maintained a friendship with Henry Clapp, Jr. The two men co-edited the Leader in 1864, and Fiske later helped organize Clapp’s funeral (T. Miller 40).

At the end of the Civil War, Fiske moved to Europe. He made the ocean crossing in the Henrietta during the “first Atlantic yacht race” (D. W. Miller). He traveled first to Italy and then to London. Once in England, he became manager of the Royal English Opera Company and the St. James’s Theatre.

In 1874, Fiske returned to New York City and, in 1877, he succeeded Augustin Daly as manager of the Fifth Avenue Theatre. Both Edwin Booth and Joseph Jefferson performed in Fiske’s company one year prior to his retirement. Around this time, he met and married Mary Hewins Fox. The marriage was preceded by an affair, which prompted Fox’s husband at the time, Mr. Burnham, to attempt to shoot and stab Fiske (T. Miller 110). In 1877, Fox gave birth to a son, but no information about him is known.

After leaving the theatre in 1879, Fiske started the New York Dramatic Mirror and also worked as a dramatic critic for The Spirit of the Times. Soon after founding the Mirror, he gave up control of it and split his time between writing for Spirit and creating his own plays. He wrote Corporal Cartouche, Martin Chuzzlewit, My Noble Son-in-law, and Robert Rabagas as well as collections of stories and essays, English Photographs by an American (1869), Off-hand Portraits of Prominent New Yorkers (1884), Holiday Stories (1891), and Paddy from Cork, and Other Stories (1891). Fiske came to be considered the “dean of active dramatic critics” whose “sharp pen has not been a whit dulled by time” (D.W. Miller, “General Gossip”, Current Literature 479).

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References & Biographical Resources

"Current Memoranda." Potter's American Monthly. Sep. 1875: 710-715. [more about this work]

Identified as one of "the friends of Henry Clapp in the city of New York," but not necessarily a Pfaffian. [pages: 714]

Eytinge, Rose. The Memories of Rose Eytinge: Being Recollections & Observations of Men, Women, and Events, during Half a Century. New York: Frederick A. Stokes, 1905. [more about this work]

Mentions Stephen Fiske as one of the "clever and distinguished" men who frequented Ada Clare's Sunday evening parties at her home on West 42nd Street in New York (21). [pages: 21]

"General gossip of authors and writers." Current Literature. 1888: 476-480. [more about this work]

Mentioned as one of the Bohemians at Pfaff's "gossiped" about by Rufus B. Wilson in a "reminiscent letter to the Galveston News." The blurb gives "updates" on the whereabouts of many of the former Bohemians.

"Stephen Fiske, one of the youngest of the 'Pfaff Crowd,' is now a theatrical manager and critic, whose sharp pen has not been a whit dulled by time." [pages: 479]

Haynes, John Edward. Pseudonyms of Authors: Including Anonyms and Initialisms. New York, 1882. [more about this work]

This text identifies the following pseudonym: Ariel (14). [pages: 14]

Miller, Douglass W. "Stephen Ryder Fiske." Dictionary of American Biography. Base Set. American Council of Learned Societies, 1928-1936. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Thomson Gale, 2006. http://www.galenet.com/servlet/BioRC. [more about this work]

Miller, Tice L. Bohemians and Critics: American Theatre Criticism in the Nineteenth Century. Metuchen, NJ: The Scarecrow Press, 1981. [more about this work]

Fiske became part of the Pfaff's circle just prior to the Civil War (17). He co-edited the Leader with Henry Clapp, Jr. in 1864 (37). Fiske helped organize Clapp's funeral in 1875 (40).

Fiske replaced Edward Wilkins as dramatic critic at the Herald and suggested that Wilkins reviewed productions without actually attending them (46).

Fiske moved to London after the end of the Civil War. He returned in 1874 and in 1879 he became the dramatic critic for the Spirit of the Times (128).

Fiske was married to Mary Fox Hewins, but the couple first engaged in a scandalous affair. The affair prompted Mary's husband of the time, Mr. Burnham, to attempt to shoot and stab Fiske (110). [pages: 17, 37, 40, 46, 67, 80, 102-127, 128, 154]

Starr, Louis Morris. Bohemian Brigade; Civil War Newsmen in Action. New York: Knopf, 1954. 367 p. [more about this work]

Fiske was one of the three men in Hudson's [of the Herald] Washington bureau in 1861. Fiske was twenty and accompanied President Lincoln on the last leg of his trip to Washington. Fiske was locked in a hotel room in Harrisburg the night Lincoln "made his most famous secret departure fo avert foul play in Baltimore." Fiske was also sent by Simon P. Hanscom, the bureau chief, to cover the inaugural ball. When Fiske shook hands with Lincoln, he asked the President "if there was any special news he would like to send to Mr. Bennett. Fiske recalled that Lincoln responded: "'Yes,' he replied, looking at me significantly, 'you may tell him that Thurlow Weed has found out that Seward was not nominated at Chicago'" (25-26). [pages: 25-26]

"Untitled." Dramatic Mirror. 9 Feb. 1889. [more about this work]