James Thorne Smith Jr. was an American writer of humorous supernatural fantasy fiction under the byline Thorne Smith. He is best known today for the two Topper novels, comic fantasy fiction involving sex, frequent drinking and ghosts. With racy illustrations, these sold millions of copies in the 1930s and were equally popular in paperbacks of the 1950s. No. 1 on The New York Times Fiction best seller list for 1 week, from the issue of April 24, 1933. Wiki link