Pierre van Paassen was a Dutch-Canadian-American journalist, writer, and Unitarian minister. He was born in Gorinchem, Netherlands, then emigrated with his parents to Canada in 1914. After entering a seminary, he served as a missionary to Ruthenian immigrants in the Alberta hinterland, where he helped with medical work. In 1917 he left theological school to serve with the Canadian army in France in World War I as an infantryman and sapper. No. 1 on The New York Times Nonfiction best seller list for 2 weeks, from the issue of June 5, 1939. Wiki link