Messer Marco Polo by BRIAN OSWALD DONN-BYRNE BRIAN OSWALD DONN-BYRNE (1889-1928) A NOE ON !E A"!OR O# MESSER MAR$O POLO So Celtic in feeling and atmosphere are the stories of Donn Byrne that many of his devotees have come to believe that he never lived anywhere but in Ireland. Actually, Donn Byrne was born in New or! City. Shortly after his birth, however, his parents too! him bac! to the land of his forefathers. "here he was educated and came to !now the people of whom he wrote so magically. At Dublin #niversity his love for the Irish language and for a good fight won him many pri$es, first as a writer in %aelic and sec ond as the #niver sit y& s li ghtwei ght bo'i ng champi on. Af ter continuing his studies at the Sorbonne and the #niversity of (eip$ig, he returned to the #nited States, where, in )*)), he married and established a home in Broo!lyn +eights. +e earned his living, while trying to write short stories, as an editor of dictionaries. Soon his tales began to attract attention and he added to his collection of bo'ing pri$es many others won in shortstory contests. -hen /SS/0 A0C1 21(1 appeared in )*3) his reputation in the literary world was firmly established. "hereafter, whatever he wrote was hailed enthusiastically by his evergrowing public, until )*34, when his tragic death in an automobile accident cut short the career of one of America&s bestloved storytellers. MESSER MAR$O POLO "he message came to me, at the second chec! of the hunt, that a countryman and a clansman needed me. "he ground was heavy, the day raw, and it was a drag, too fast for fun and too tame for sport. So I blessed the countryman and the clansman, and turned my bac! on the field. But when they told me his name, I all but fell from the saddle. 5But that man&s dead65 But he wasn&t dead. +e was in New or!. +e was traveling from the craigs of #lster to his grandson, who had an orangegrove on the Indian 0iver, in 7lorida. +e