In his day, one guy played numerous roles, none more important than the Lanyard. The Monsieur Duchemin, who departed from "a British port" on the steamer Assyrian for New York ten days after that icy midnight, was in no way to be associated with the hunted animal who snuck through the British lines out of No Man's Land. The Assyrian has been a steadily moving Dobbin of the transatlantic lanes; she has knuckled down to it resolutely and has only buried her nose in the frothing green when absolutely necessary. Lower visibility was a result of sheeting spindrift; two destroyers approximately a mile apart on parallel courses to port and to starboard were frequently very faintly visible, ghostly ships whirling and dipping in the haze. The commander's face lost the frown and developed a vague look of stupefaction. He wavered, a palm trembling over the neatly punctured black blood that was starting to fill up on his forehead. His enormous frame violently shook during a convulsive quake. It was difficult to see Mr. Blensop go about his professional duties without thinking about the heinous injustice that Nature all too frequently inflicts upon her progeny. After Stanistreet, Stone, and the broken, sobbing Blensop left, there was a silence that was nearly as painful for Lanyard.
Louis Joseph Vance was an American author, screenwriter, and film producer who lived from September 19, 1879, until December 16, 1933. He developed the well-known figure of Michael Lanyard, a former criminal turned homicide investigator known as The Lone Wolf. On September 19, 1879, Louis Joseph Vance was born in Washington, D.C. He was the only child of Medal of Honor recipient Wilson J. Vance and Lillian Beall Vance. He attended Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute for his education. On February 19, 1898, Anne Elizabeth Hodges and Vance were united in marriage. In 1900, Wilson Beall Vance, their son, was born. After 1901, he produced a number of well-known short tales and poems before writing several novels. Between 1914 and 1949, his persona Michael Lanyard, also known as The Lone Wolf, made appearances in eight novels, 24 motion pictures, radio programs, and television shows. In order to work with Universal Pictures on movies based on his writing, notably The Trey o' Hearts (1914) and a serial and movie series (1914-1916) based on his Terence O'Rourke stories, Vance relocated to Los Angeles. On December 16, 1933, Vance perished by himself in a fire that started after he dozed off while smoking in his New York City apartment.
