During the last few months I have been processing the papers from the estate of Franklin P. Adams. He is someone I have written a lot about over the last 20 years; he was the dean of the Algonquin Round Table and one of the most famous columnists of the pre-Jazz Age era. Adams was extremely influential on the careers of such notables as Robert Benchley, Dorothy Parker, and Edna Ferber. This fall I was Continue Reading →
Dorothy Parker gave this signed photo to her friend and mentor F.P.A. and his family. Photo courtesy of Anthony Adams. Heywood Broun and Ruth Hale had one of their famous New Year’s Eve parties to close out 1921. They lived in a brownstone at 330 West 85th Street, a townhouse that Broun had won the mortgage at a poker game. He later lost the apartment the same way. That night was one of their most Continue Reading →
April is National Poetry Month. This is a good time to remember the poets who were members of the Vicious Circle: Franklin P. Adams, Dorothy Parker, and John V.A. Weaver. I thought about adding Frank Sullivan to the list, since he wrote the Christmas Letter in The New Yorker for so many decades, but decided against it. If you disagree with my decision, tell me on Twitter. Here are my three Algonquin Round Table members Continue Reading →