Philip Gordon Wylie was a distinguished philosophy and science fiction author, born in Beverly, Massachusetts. He was the son of Edmund Melville Wylie, a Presbyterian minister, and Edna Edwards, a novelist who passed away when Philip was just five years old. After his mother's death, Wylie's family moved to Montclair, New Jersey, where he would later attend Princeton University from 1920-1923.
Wylie's personal life was marked by several significant relationships. He first married Sally Ondek, with whom he had a daughter, Karen. Karen would go on to become the inventor of animal clicker training, a popular method for training animals using positive reinforcement. After divorcing his first wife, Wylie married Frederica Ballard, who was born and raised in Rushford, New York. Both Wylie and Ballard are buried in Rushford.
As an author, Wylie was prolific and wrote across various genres. His work included hundreds of short stories, articles, serials, syndicated newspaper columns, novels, and works of social criticism. He also wrote screenplays while in Hollywood and served as an editor for Farrar & Rinehart. Wylie's writing often contained critical views on man and society, reflecting his studies and interests in psychology, biology, ethnology, and physics. His major writings were known for their philosophical perspectives, and he was a respected figure in the literary world. Over nine movies were made from novels or stories by Wylie, cementing his place as a significant contributor to American literature.