Harry Elliot

Alvan Levenson, who writes under the pseudonym Harry Elliot, was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts and grew up in Brookline, where he lived around the corner from the eventual governor of the state, Michael Dukakis. Kitty Dickson, who would one day become the state’s First Lady, also crossed Levenson’s path; they spent four years as Brookline High School classmates. At their commencement ceremonies, however, Levenson was not in attendance. He had, on his seventeenth birthday, joined the U.S. Marine Corps. While Kitty and other members of their graduating Class of 1954 were marching down the aisle to receive their diplomas, he was marching through the swamps of Parris Island with an M1 rifle in his hands.

After returning from duty in the Pacific, Levenson graduated from Tufts University (Class of 1962), where, as a Chem/Bio major, he had taken only the required minimum of English courses. He loved writing, however, and so, after marrying a divorced actress and settling in Newton, he continued to record his innermost thoughts, many related to the social milieu of his wife. She had also attended Brookline High School, where she developed ties to the Dukakis circle that continued throughout her marriage to Levenson, who often found himself (albeit uncomfortably) in the company of Dukakis insiders. Understandably, with her divorce from Levenson, came his ouster from the Dukakis circle. But much worse was yet to come. Lawyers representing Levenson’s ex-wife in her divorce, used their connections in court to simultaneously enrich themselves and punish Levenson.

To accomplish this, these lawyers illegally seized Levenson’s property and initiated proceedings to evict him from his barely winterized cottage in Plymouth.

Levenson spent the next decade fighting this unrelenting effort by his Dukakis-connected adversaries, whom he confronted in court, pro se, without a lawyer, where he was badly outgunned, and in the pages of his novels, most recently the BEACON HILL TRILOGY: JACKALS FEASTING, self-published in 2003, its unpublished prequel, CIRCLING THEIR PREY © 2004 by Harry Elliot (a reworking of DIVORCE, DUKAKIS STYLE), and the just-completed THE DANCES THEY DO © 2006 (as CIRQUE DUKAKIS) by Harry Elliot. Although privy to many of the activities of Dukakis insiders, he was not inclined to write an exposé or non-fiction account of their devious and even illegal (forgery) behavior. Instead, using a pseudonym, he chose to people his experiences with fictional characters in human interest stories. Most of us know fairness and justice when we see it--and that, according to Levenson, is what his books are all about.

While writing JACKALS FEASTING, Levenson met Dorothy Magette, a Princeton University graduate with a Ph.D. in comparative literature, who began editing his work. With a dissertation that focused on Balzac and Dickens, she provides Levenson with a valuable perspective regarding political corruption, the courts, and the machinations of lawyers.

The couple, who are inseparable 24/7, hope to offer others, by their example, the same inspiration found in the outcome of the BEACON HILL TRILOGY. By holding fast to the proven values of their forebears—treating others fairly and asking that others treat them in kind—Levenson and his wife assert that any person, irrespective of age and in spite of seemingly insurmountable obstacles, can lead a meaningful and truly satisfying life.