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Each year we gather with a few hundred of our closest friends to celebrate James Thurber’s 120th Birthday. Thurber House friends and supporters gathered at The Westin Columbus around for drinks and appetizers, followed by dinner, and of course, birthday cake. Our wonderful host, Wayne Lawson, made sure that the “laughter” portion of our mission was a big part of the evening with his charm and wit. As the role of the host is often to make sure that everyone knows each other, he asked our new Executive Director, Jennifer Gregg, a series of questions to give the crowd an idea of who she is and what she likes (yes, cheesy chips came up… more than once). She also had a surprise for the audience in the form of Golden Tickets that a handful of lucky guests found under their chairs, each of which held a gift certificate to the upcoming series of our 2015 Evenings with Authors.
The evening moved forward with our featured guest, Dan Zevin, the winner of the 2013 Thurber Prize for American Humor. Zevin’s book, Dan Gets A Minivan, Life at the Intersection of Dude and Dad, is the hilarious account of how he discovered and coped with the changes in life that come with being a father. His stories were accompanied by hilarious home movies, and passages from his book.
Last but not least, a party is not a party without gifts! Thanks to the generous contributions from organizations and businesses around the city, many guests took home prizes that ranged from wine, to hand made ceramics, to a great adventure at the Columbus Zoo.
Special thanks also to our corporate sponsors (listed below), The Westin Columbus,
The Ohio Arts Council, GCAC, and The Columbus Foundation!
Crane Group
Friends of The Ohio State University Libraries
Huntington National Bank
Kegler Brown Hill + Ritter
Nationwide
The Office of Student Life at The Ohio State University
Park National Bank
Phi Kappa Psi, In Honor of Norm Spain
PNC Bank
State Auto Insurance
Vorys, Sater, Seymour & Pease
The Westin
Before Thurber Prize winner John Kenney settled in to read a selection from his novel Truth in Advertising, he had a few words for his fellow finalist:
“Dear David Letterman, Please let me win this award. Just this one. We need the money.”
It was one of many hilarious moments during last night’s presentation of the 2013 Thurber Prize for American Humor. David Letterman attended alongside co-writer Bruce McCall on behalf of their book This Land Was Made for You and Me (But Mostly Me). In the absence of third finalist Liza Donnelly (Women on Men), her husband Michael Maslin spoke about how much James Thurber means to them, especially as New Yorker cartoonists themselves. The pair’s first date was to see a James Thurber drawing at the Armory on the East Side.
In the true spirit of the night, Truth in Advertising author John Kenney joked, “My first flight wasn’t to the Thurber House or my first date, but I was conceived there.” It was easy to see why the Thurber Prize judges—Meg Wolitzer, John Searles, and Henry Alford—were so taken by the wit in Kenney’s debut. (more…)
Dan Zevin, author of the comic memoir Dan Gets a Mini-Van: Life at the Intersection of Dude and Dad, has won the 2013 Thurber Prize for American Humor.
He received $5,000 in prize money and a crystal plaque at a ceremony held in New York City.
This year’s judges included True Prep author Lisa Birnbach, The Potty Mouth at the Table author Laurie Notaro, and Pawnee: The Greatest Town in America author Nate DiMeo.
Calvin Trillin, author of Quite Enough of Calvin Trillin: Forty Years of Funny Stuff, has been named the winner of the 2012 Thurber Prize for American Humor. He won $5,000 in prize money and a crystal plaque.
The announcement was revealed last night at a ceremony held in New York City. This year’s judging panel consisted of former New York Times reporter Ralph Blumenthal, novelist Jennifer Crusie and fiction writer Luanne Rice.
This prize, awarded annually, was established to honor the legacy of humor writer/cartoonist James Thurber. Here’s more from the release: “Trillin, age 76, who became The Nation’s ‘deadline poet’ in 1990, has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 1963. He is the author of 20 books including the bestselling About Alice and Obliviously on He Sails. His new book, Dogfight: An Occasionally Interrupted Narrative Poem About the Presidential Campaign, will be published in December.” (Photo Credit: Leslie Miller)
Every week, I spelunk into the Writer’s Digest archives to find the wisest, funniest, or downright strangest moments from our 92 years of publication.
Harper Lee’s birthday is tomorrow, so today I went on a hunt to find some Harper Lee quotes somewhere in our archives. I didn’t exactly troll up an entire interview (no surprise there, given her lack of media appearances since To Kill a Mockingbird was published*), but I did stumble on this gold mine from 1961.
For a cover story interviewing Lee and a slew of other writers—John Steinbeck, Rod Serling, Carl Sandburg, James Thurber—we posed the question, “What advice would you offer a person who aspires to a writing career?” and asked for a single response.
Here’s their writing advice. I’m in the process of geeking out and printing Sandburg’s right now so I can place it above my desk.
As for our swag drawing, thanks to everyone who shared their thoughts on Janet Evanovich and outlining last week. We dipped a hand into the random WD swag hat, and a name emerged: Sharon Vander Meer. Sharon, can you email [email protected], ATTN: Zachary Petit, and I’ll send you a list of free books to choose from?
Happy Friday!
*Here’s to hoping it wasn’t because we cited Lee as the author of To Kill a Hummingbird. Oy. Some 50 years later, WD still regrets (and still heavily cringes at) the error. Sorry, Harper!
Erskine Caldwell, Carl Sandburg, William Inge, Robert Fuoss
Erle Stanley Gardner, Herb Mayes, Paul Engle, Richard Gehman, Francois Sagan
Thomas B. Costain, Harper Lee, John Steinbeck, Rod Serling
Stirling Silliphant, Allen Drury, Paul Scott Mowrer, James Thurber
A birthday cake, guests and of course entertainment that had the room laughing the night away, these were the highlights of James Thurber’s 117th birthday celebrated during the annual Gala on December 8 at The Westin Columbus. The featured speaker of the evening was funny man and 2010 Thurber Prize for American Humor, Steve Hely, who wrote the hilarious novel How I Became a Famous Novelist and scripts for shows like The Office and The David Letterman Show. The event was hugely successful and a wonderful evening of reflecting on Thurber’s life and work.
In case you missed it, here are some photos to recap the evening’s events:
Guests mix and mingle before the Gala begins.
Attendees enjoy a fantastic dinner served by The Westin Columbus.
Hely shares a funny Thurber story from his childhood.
Hely and our host, Dr. Wayne P. Lawson, draw the winning raffle tickets.
Hely meets with guests after the event. Thanks for coming to Columbus, Steve!
Must . . . steal . . . this . . . idea . . . . NOW! David Maybury, for those of us on this side of the pond, dubs himself a “Children’s Book Commentator” and has a swell blog worth discovering. New life goal: To become him.
Achockablog, words do not suffice to thank you for letting me know about that video.
So it’s a low-key Video Sunday today. After speaking at The Carle Museum of Picture Book Art on Thursday with Anita Silvey and Lisa Holton (it went swimmingly!) driving back Friday for a Norton Juster dinner (at this point I’m just bragging), and hosting Nora Raleigh Baskin, Suzanne Morgan Williams, Sara Lewis Holmes, and Rosanne Parry in my library for a Children’s Literary Salon on children’s literature and military brats, my blogging searches for vids this week came in a passable second. But that doesn’t mean I don’t have a couple goodies! Like this “interview” with Peter Brown by one of his creations.
What kills me is that I know that voice of Lucy. I know that person. Who IS that person???
Of course, the only reason I knew about that was because Mr. Schu’s Watch. Read. Connect. linked to both that and this Etsy blog video series (Etsy blog???) with Mr. Brown. In it, Peter creates a playlist of videos in honor of Picture Book Month. The Where the Wild Things Are opera is a brilliant place to start and it only gets better from there. Consider this all the videos you ever need to see for the day.
And thanks to Mr. Schu for the links!
A delight in its own way is this animated video of Neil Gaiman reading James Thurber’s The 13 Clocks. Just a pleasure, really.
And finally, for the off-topic portion of our post, something lovely. A mumuration of starlings. Precisely what you need to set you off for the rest of your day.
Since going off-topic seems permitted today, just want to say how much I enjoyed the Sunday Times Book Review section on kids books. How to let kids be heroes without those pesky grown-ups meddling is always a challenge, so I really appreciated your review “Manhattan Mysteries”, especially the celebration of books with “children free to go anywhere and to solve crimes, not to say their own problems”.
Elizabeth Bird said, on 11/13/2011 10:18:00 AM
Oh good! Is that up? I’ll have to take a gander at it. I’m always a little vague as to when those things run. Cheers!
Gregory K. said, on 11/13/2011 3:04:00 PM
Oh, that review video is fabulous! And the 13 Clocks is a personal fave, so that was fab, too. Thanks for those links!
This year’s panel of judges included two-time Thurber Prize winner Ian Frazier, 2010 Thurber Prize finalist Jancee Dunn and novelist Meg Wolitzer. The winner will be revealed at the awards ceremony on October 3rd in New York City’s Algonquin Hotel.
Here’s more from the release: “The 2011 Thurber Prize for American Humor will be conferred upon the author and publisher of the outstanding book of humor writing published in the United States between January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2010. Initiated in 1996, thirty-five years after the death of this key figure in the development of American humor, it is the nation’s highest recognition of the art of humor writing.”
It may not be a terribly cheery subject but the inescapable reality of death has given rise to much of literature’s most profound and moving work. We are currently relaunching some of the titles in the Oxford Book of… series, and today I thought I would share an excerpt from the absolutely wonderful Oxford Book of Death. Below are some ‘last words’ from figures throughout history.
ARCHIMEDES (212 BC): (on being ordered by a Roman soldier to follow him) ‘Wait till I have finished my problem.’
BOILEAU (1711): ‘It is a great consolation to a poet on the point of death that he has never written a line injurious to good morals.’
RAMEAU (1764): (to his confessor) ‘What the devil are you trying to sing, monsieur le cure? Your voice is out of tune.’
VOLTAIRE (1778): (as the bedside lamp flared up) ‘What? The flames already?’
ADAM SMITH (1790): ‘I believe we must adjourn this meeting to another place.’
PALMERSTON (1865): ‘Die, my dear Doctor? – That is the last thing I shall do!’
DISRAELI (1881): (Queen Victoria having proposed to visit him) ‘Why should I see her? She will only want me to give a message to Albert.’
GIDE (1951): ‘I am afraid my sentences are becoming grammatically incorrect.’
RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS (in conversation some two weeks before his death in 1958, recorded by Sylvia Townsend Warner in a letter): ‘If I were reincarnated, I added, I think I would like to be a landscape painter. What about you? Music, he said, music. But in the next world I shan’t be doing music, with all the striving and disappointments. I shall be being it.’
Washington City Paper: City Desk - Bad Gift Idea: said, on 11/20/2008 11:38:00 AM
[...] you’re still tempted, OUP’s blog has a few selections of famous last words from some historical figures. For my money (which won’t be spent giving this book to a close friend or relative!), Andre [...]
Black Market Kidneys » last words said, on 11/22/2008 11:15:00 PM
[...] OUP Blog brings word of the Oxford Book of Death, with excerpts of notable last words. GIDE (1951): ‘I am afraid my [...]
Thanks, Gail! I've been driving myself nuts with colors, but I wanted a design that would be easy to update with new art & color, so I guess I'd better get used to the tweaking! ;-0
Eighty years ago on this date, The New Yorker published this piece, still a classic (and longtime Farm School favorite), by James Thurber.
A Visit from Saint Nicholas (In the Ernest Hemingway Manner)
by James Thurber
It was the night before Christmas. The house was very quiet. No creatures were stirring in the house. There weren't even any mice stirring. The
0 Comments on Merry Christmas, from James Thurber and Farm School as of 1/1/1900
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James Thurber’s 120th Birthday. Thurber House friends and supporters gathered at The Westin Columbus around for drinks and appetizers, followed by dinner, and of course, birthday cake. Our wonderful host, Wayne Lawson, made sure that the “laughter” portion of our mission was a big part of the evening with his charm and wit. As the role of the host is often to make sure that everyone knows each other, he asked our new Executive Director, Jennifer Gregg, a series of questions to give the crowd an idea of who she is and what she likes (yes, cheesy chips came up… more than once). She also had a surprise for the audience in the form of Golden Tickets that a handful of lucky guests found under their chairs, each of which held a gift certificate to the upcoming series of our 2015 Evenings with Authors.
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Calvin Trillin, author of Quite Enough of Calvin Trillin: Forty Years of Funny Stuff, has been named the winner of the 2012 Thurber Prize for American Humor. He won $5,000 in prize money and a crystal plaque.
I blame Edward Schieffelin.
Since going off-topic seems permitted today, just want to say how much I enjoyed the Sunday Times Book Review section on kids books. How to let kids be heroes without those pesky grown-ups meddling is always a challenge, so I really appreciated your review “Manhattan Mysteries”, especially the celebration of books with “children free to go anywhere and to solve crimes, not to say their own problems”.
Oh good! Is that up? I’ll have to take a gander at it. I’m always a little vague as to when those things run. Cheers!
Oh, that review video is fabulous! And the 13 Clocks is a personal fave, so that was fab, too. Thanks for those links!