A new video surfaced recently that’s just sensational to watch for anyone that adores the 1920s and the Algonquin Round Table era. It is called New York in the Twenties, and first aired on American TV in 1961. This has to be one of the best videos of the era. The amount of home movies found in the piece is amazing. Among the 1920s celebrities included in it are Heywood Broun, Enrico Caruso, Charlie Chaplin, Continue Reading →
I had the pleasure to be interviewed by reporter Andrew Whitman, the anchor and senior political correspondent for RNN FiOS1. We didn’t talk politics, just the legacy of the Algonquin Round Table. It was perfect to sit at the Round Table and talk about The Algonquin Round Table New York: A Historical Guide. The interview aired last night on the Regional News Network in the tri-state area on the Richard French Live show. Thanks to Continue Reading →
This is a book trailer for my new one, The Algonquin Round Table New York: A Historical Guide. And since I made it about Jane Grant, Harold Ross, and Alexander Woollcott, I thought I’d post this recipe. It’s from my earlier work, Under the Table: A Dorothy Parker Cocktail Guide. It’s the recipe Jane Grant used to make her own bathtub gin. The video was made outside their former duplex, the landmark 412 West Forty-seventh Continue Reading →
Today I visited the graves of Gerald Murphy (1888-1964) and Sara Wiborg Murphy (1883-1975) in South End Cemetery, East Hampton, Long Island, New York. Nearby are their sons Baoth Murphy (1919-1935) and Patrick Murphy (1920-1937). The inscription on Sara’s gravestone reads “…and She made all of light” from the English poet Thomas Campion. Gerald’s speaks more to his personality: “Ripeness is all.” from “King Lear. I’ve been meaning to go for 10 years and it Continue Reading →
Take a video tour of Colts Neck, New Jersey, the birthplace of writer Alexander Woollcott. A founding member of the Algonquin Round Table, Woollcott was a writer, critic, and broadcaster, who also dabbled in acting.
This Friday is Dorothy Parker’s birthday, and the Dorothy Parker Society is having parties in New York and the Catskills to celebrate. But a recent review of the new book Dorothy Parker Complete Broadway, 1918-1923, makes me want to recommend it as a birthday present from Dottie to you. Los Angeles playwright Steven Vlasak wrote: If you love Dorothy Parker, then you’ll have a major crush on this new book compiled by Parker expert Kevin Continue Reading →