Kelsey P. Kitchel
Kelsey Percival Kitchel was born on October 6, 1881, in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, where her father practiced dentistry. She was an adventurer even as a young woman: in May 1905, she returned to New York City from Puerto Cortés, Honduras, on a ticket she had purchased herself. What drew her to Latin America at the time is an open question. She would later return with her husband.
Kelsey P. Kitchel began writing at a young age. Her earliest credit that I have found was called “Pirate Treasure,” a short story published in Pearson’s Magazine in June 1909. Even after she had married, she wrote under her own name. Magazines that printed her stories and poems included Adventure, The All-Story, The Crisis, Ghost Stories, Gunter’s Magazine, Prairie Schooner, The Smart Set, Tropical Adventures, and Young’s Magazine. A story for The Crisis, “The Rains,” was set in Jamaica. Her lone contribution to Weird Tales, a short story called “Mummy,” is set in Chile. Kelsey Kitchel lived in both places with her husband, and thereby hangs a tale.
