Harrison Grey Fiske
Harrison Grey Fiske was an American journalist, playwright and Broadway producer who fought against the monopoly of the Theatrical Syndicate, a management company that dominated American stage bookings around the turn of the twentieth century.
Fiske was born in Harrison, New York, an affluent suburb in Westchester County just thirty minutes from New York City. The second of three sons of the wealthy hotel owner Lyman Fiske and his wife Jennie Maria Fiske, both of seventeenthcentury Massachusetts descent, Fiske was still a young boy when his family moved into New York City, and he maintained a strong identity as a New Yorker for much of his life. As a young boy, Fiske was educated by private tutors and showed a strong interest in the arts. He recalled being taken to see his first play at Barnums Museum at an early age and afterwards receiving the gift of a puppet theatre from his father. Later, whilst attending Mrs. Vanderhoffs School he became exposed to Shakespeare through dramatic readings given by the headmistress husband. Likewise, he had also been giving a small printing press and, as a boy, he had begun printing his own monthly paper. Fiske next enrolled at Dr. Chapins Collegiate School for Boys, a college preparatory
Source: Wikipedia