Harvey Wickham was born in Middletown, New York. He was an author, pianist, and organist. He served as choirmaster and organist for several years at Grace Church in Middletown. He became a contributing writer for Etude music magazine and wrote articles about musical education. Around 1906, he moved to San Francisco, California and became musical editor of the San Francisco Chronicle-Traveler. He lived for the last 16 years of his life in Rome, Italy. He is the creator of 'Ferris McClue', a private detective.