Harry Leon Wilson (May 1, 1867 - June 28, 1939) was an American novelist and dramatist best known for his novels Ruggles of Red Gap and Merton of the Movies. Another of his works, Bunker Bean, helped popularize the term flapper . He began work as a stenographer after leaving home at 16, and he worked his way west through Topeka, Kansas, Omaha, Nebraska, Denver, Colorado, and eventually to California. He was a contributor to the histories of Hubert Howe Bancroft, and became the private secretary to Virgil Bogue. In December 1886, Wilson’s story The Elusive Dollar Bill was accepted by Puck magazine. He continued to contribute to Puck and became assistant editor in 1892. Henry Cuyler Bunner died in 1896 and Wilson replaced him as editor.