David MacLean Parry (26 March 1852—12 May 1915) was an American industrialist and writer.

[1] David MacLean Parry was born on a farm near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

He worked briefly as a clerk, a traveling salesman, a reporter on The New York Herald and later became a successful businessman.

Parry was well known for being extremely hostile to labor unions and workers' rights.

[5][6][7][8] The book was written as a satirical counterblast to Edward Bellamy's Looking Backward.