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Josiah Flynt Willard was born on January 23, 1869, in Appleton, Wisconsin, to Oliver and Mary Bannister Willard. His father worked as a newspaper editor. Early childhood challenges included frequent running away from home and time spent in reform school following involvement in theft. After escaping, he began an extended period of tramping, which would shape his later writing career. Flynt pursued higher education at the University of Berlin, studying from 1890 to 1895, and traveled widely across Europe, meeting notable figures such as Leo Tolstoy and Henrik Ibsen. Upon returning to the United States, he was invited by a railroad executive to investigate vagrants and private policemen enforcing anti-tramp rules. Drawing on his own experiences as a vagrant, Flynt authored several works exploring the lives of marginalized and criminal classes, including Tramping with tramps and Notes of an itinerant policeman. Despite his success, he struggled with long-term alcoholism and heavy smoking from a young age. Flynt died at the age of 37 from pneumonia in Chicago on January 20, 1907, and was buried at Rosehill Cemetery.

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