Frederick O'Brien (16 June 1869 – 9 January 1932)[2] was an American author, journalist, hobo, peripatetic world traveler, and public administrator.

[2] In 1894 he was a general in Coxey's Army of the unemployed and its march on Washington, D.C.[3] On May 26, 1897 in Chicago, Illinois he married Gertude Harriman Frye.

He worked for the Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch, filed articles with such outlets as The Honolulu Advertiser and the San Francisco Chronicle.

[8] "I am a Marylander, and first a sailor and then a law student at a university; a laborer, a tramp, a reporter in the United States, Hawaii and the Philippines; a correspondent and traveler in Asia, Africa and Europe; a gardener and keeper of chickens, gold-fish, goats; a beach-comber in the South seas, a political writer, a public utility expert, acting State Food Administrator in California, one of Herbert Hoover's assistants in Washington; always a lover of sunsets on far shores, of books, of sea, of speculations of life and morals, customs and reactions, of merry song and brave deed, and also of being alone" "Where is the boy who has not dreamed of the cannibal isles, those strange fantastic places over the rim of the world, where naked brown men move like shadows through unimaginable jungles and horrid feasts are celebrated to the "boom, boom, boom!"

With the editorial assistance of aspiring writer Rose Wilder Lane, his first book White Shadows in the South Sea was finally published in 1919.

O'Brien enchanted readers with his skillful depiction of moonlit walks along warm-water beaches, exotic tales and scenes, and photos of bare-breasted Polynesian women.

The book was described "as a bitter denunciation of white civilization and its destructive effects on the lifestyles and cultural traditions of a Polynesian paradise.

Van Dyke made a motion picture version of the book that remained true to the exotic, but dystopian theme.

The date of his visit to the Society Islands was in early 1914, which is established by his meeting with poet Rupert Brooke who was there at this time.

The Oxford Companion to American Literature credits him with reviving interest in Herman Melville who also wrote about the Marquesas and "inspiring a host of imitators exploiting the glamour of the Pacific Islands."

"[citation needed] However he was a long-time alcoholic, had growing financial problems and ill health, and "all his artistic creative force had left him.

O'Brien wrote more stories about the South Seas and worked on his autobiography and a biography of Father Damien, the priest who lived among the lepers in Molokai, Hawaii.

[17] O'Brien's body was cremated and his ashes were scattered by a friend at the Golden Gate strait on San Francisco Bay.