Basil King (1859 - 1928)

William Benjamin Basil King (26 February 1859 - 22 June 1928) was a Canadian-born clergyman who became a writer after retiring from the clergy. His novels and non-fiction were spiritually oriented. He was graduated from the University of King's College in Nova Scotia, and served as an Anglican rector at St. Luke's Pro-Cathedral in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and later at Christ Church in Cambridge, Massachusetts. King began writing in 1900 after he was forced to retire from the clergy due to loss of eyesight and thyroid disease. King subsequently published a number of best-selling works.