The Thirteen Truly Great Things in Life - Harold Bell Wright - Paperbackby Bell Wright Harold Bell Wright (Author), Harold Bell Wright (Author) Harold Bell Wright, (May 4, 1872 May 24, 1944), was a best selling American writer of fiction, essays, and non fiction during the first half of the 20th century. Although mostly forgotten or ignored after the middle of the 20th century, he is said to have been the first American writer to sell a million copies of a novel and the first to make $1 million from writing fiction.