Arlo Bates (1850–1918) was an American author, journalist, and educator whose career spanned the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Born in East Machias, Maine, he graduated from Bowdoin College in 1876 before moving to Boston to pursue a career in letters. He became the editor of the Boston Sunday Courier from 1880 to 1893, establishing himself as a prominent figure in the city's literary and journalistic circles.\n\nIn addition to his editorial work, Bates was a prolific novelist and poet. His fiction often explored the social and moral complexities of Boston society, notably in his trilogy of novels: The Pagans (1884), The Philistines (1889), and The Puritans (1898). These works examined the tensions between artistic idealism, religious orthodoxy, and social ambition. He also published several volumes of poetry, including Berries of the Brier (1886) and Under the Beech-Tree (1899).\n\nIn 1893, Bates transitioned into academia, accepting a position as a professor of English at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he taught until 1915. During his tenure, he published influential instructional texts based on his lectures, such as Talks on Writing English (1896) and Talks on the Study of Literature (1897). These volumes became widely used guides for students of composition and literary appreciation, cementing his legacy as a dedicated educator.
