Jan de Hartly se narodil roku 1914 v nizozemském Haarlemu v rodině protestantského teologa. Odmalička projevoval vášeň pro moře a již v deseti letech utekl na kutr, kde pracoval jako plavčík.
Jan deHartog (April 22, 1914 – September 22, 2002) was a Dutch playwright, novelist and occasional social critic who moved to the United States in the early 1960s and became a Quaker.
Jan deHartog (22.4.1914 Haarlem, Nizozemí - 22.9.2002 Houston, Texas USA). Známý nizozemský spisovatel se narodil v rodině protestantského teologa a od dětství miloval moře.
Jan deHartog. Writer: The Four Poster. The son of a minister, de Hartog ran away to sea twice in his boyhood. Later, after attending the Netherlands Naval College, he went back to sea as a sailor.