Opie Percival Read was born on December 22, 1852, in Nashville, Tennessee, to parents Guilford Dudley Read and Elizabeth Wallace Read. He became a prominent American journalist, novelist, and humorist known for his wit and vivid use of Southern dialect. His early career was rooted in newspaper work, editing publications such as the Statesville Argus and the Louisville Courier-Journal. In 1882, he launched his own humor magazine, the Arkansas Traveler, which he continued even after stepping away from traditional journalism in 1887. That same year, he relocated to Chicago, where he spent the remainder of his life and produced the majority of his literary output. Over the next two decades, he authored 54 books, including 31 novels, 18 short story collections, and 5 nonfiction titles. His fiction often drew on his Southern background and highlighted both rural and urban American life. Read is also credited with introducing the phrase there's a sucker born every minute into print in his 1898 novel A Yankee from the West, although the expression predates him in oral tradition. He died in Chicago, Illinois, on November 2, 1939, leaving behind a legacy marked by humor, regional storytelling, and a prolific writing career.