Ernest Granville Booth was born August 12, 1898, in Oakland, California. His father, Stuart W. Booth, was a prominent journalist. However, his son took a different path and was sent to reform school as an early adolescent after an arrest for burglary, followed by several years in prison for various crimes. While incarcerated in San Quentin, he turned to writing, and became a protégé of H. L. Mencken. Booth published several stories before his parole in 1937, and after his release he began writing crime‐related story treatments for Hollywood. In 1947, he was arrested again when it was discovered that he had been responsible for a 1943 burglary and a recent series of robberies. He was returned to prison where he eventually died on June 14, 1959.