December 30, 1895

L. P. Hartley (December 30, 1895 to December 13, 1972) was a British writer of fiction. His book, The Go-Between (1953), was made into a 1970 movie. Harold Pinter adapted the story and Joseph Losey directed the movie.

Hartley read modern history at Oxford as a youth. His success as a writer guaranteed him access to distinguished social circles: he entertained Ottoline Morrell, and was entertained by Edith Wharton. Venice was a haven for Harley and close to the eponymous island, Podolo. It was there , in 1933, that he rescued a starving cat, and later wrote about his experience in a story "Podolo." This was published in The Traveling Grave (1948).  Roger Caras included this story in his anthology Roger Caras' Treasury of Great Cat Stories (1987).