Alternate Roles.

In this, one person gives a name. It must be historical, or from an established AH timeline. People put their entries for alternate roles. You can be as detailed as you like. Once six people put their entries. then another name is given. It dont matter if the PoD goes before the DoB of the person.

Jacob "Jake" Featherston.
 

RyanF

Banned
I'll take a go.

Jacob 'Jake' Featherston in OTL

Jacob Featherston (1889-1939) was an American author in a diverse range of genres but primarily in science fiction. Born to a poor rural Virginian family he grew up under his domineering father (a former slave driver) before running away at age 16. He moved first to Richmond and worked in a series of odd jobs, before joining the United States Army in 1908.

Featherston served in a number of interventions and occupations during the Banana Wars, including Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Honduras and Nicarague. However, it would be his service during the Great War which would have the most profound effect on his life, including being wonded in his left arm, which he would never regain the full use of.

Now at age 29 Featherston was discharged from the army due to his wounds after the armistice, and spent some time in the UK before moving back to the United States. Featherston moved to Florida, where he worked again in a series of odd jobs but found his life largely void of meaning during this period.

He began to tell his coworkers stories from his time in the army, and many would sit for hours listening to the sound of his voice. Someone suggested that he write down his stories and sell them. Although he had very little education he decided to give it a try and sold his first short story in 1922. In Florida during the 1920s this was not a very good way to make money, and Featherston decided to move to Chicago, where he hoped his writings would bring him greater fortune.

Featherston's war tales didn't sell as well as he hoped, but upon hearing of a new literary magazine specialising in weird fiction he decided to change his output. Often credited as the father of the space western, Featherston began to take the history of the United States (in particular the South) and apply it to tales beyond the stars. [1]

Along with Robert E. Howard and H. P. Lovecraft Featherston became one of the most revered authors in the Weird Tales magazine, and like his contemporaries rose to national prominence. Also. like Howard and Lovecraft, Featherston would fall victim to an untimely death in the 1930s. Howard's suicide in 1936 and Lovecraft's death in 1937 deeply affected Featherston, who would die himself in 1939 from an automobile crash.

Featherston's works (both his science fiction tales and his earlier works) remain popular and have been adapted into numerous films. However, in recent years Featherston has started to come under attack for the perceived racist themes in his works (much like Lovecraft), which, coupled with his suspected membership in the Ku Klux Klan and his statements praising Fascist regimes in Europe has led to his declining popularity.


[1] If you want to imagine what a Jake Featherston sci-fi western would look like just imagine Firefly crossed with The Iron Dream.
 
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