Charles Asbury Stephens (October 21, 1844 – September 22, 1931) was an American writer who published short stories and articles under the name C. A. Stephens.
Stephens was born in Norway, Maine, and wrote under the name "Stephens" to avoid embarrassing his family should he fail as a writer.[1] He attended Bowdoin College starting in 1866, but dropped out because of lack of funds. For most of his career he was under contract to The Youth's Companion and, for a time, was their most popular and prolific contributor.[2] Stephens himself estimated that he had written 3,000 short stories.[2] The Youth's Companion put him through medical school so that they could have a staff physician to write scientific articles; he earned his M.D. from Boston University in 1887.
He said he changed his name to protect his parents from embarrassment should he fail in his public life