May 2: Jerome K. Jerome, British humorist

BORN MAY 2:

Name Jerome K. Jerome (1859-1927) was an English humorist and playwright who wrote the comic travelogue Three Men in a Boat and its sequel Three Men on the Bummel, as well as the books of essays Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow and Second Thoughts of an Idle Fellow. Three Men in a Boat--the story of, well, three men messing about in a boat on the Thames--was a phenomenon, and popularized boating on the Thames such that boat registrations went up 50% the year after it was published. It has never been out of print, and has been adapted into films, TV, radio shows, stage plays, and even a musical. None of his subsequent novels (at least 10), essay collections (at least 15), short stories (at least 11), plays (at least 24), nor his autobiography ever achieved the success of that first silly book.

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Apr. 11: Leo Rosten, American humorist

BORN APRIL 11:

Leo Rosten (1908-1997) was an American humorist once called "the Jewish James Thurber." He was well-known for New Yorker short stories about his character "Hyman Kaplan," but I treasure him for his humorous dictionary, The Joys of Yiddish, containing a lexicon of common words and phrases of "Yinglish"--Yiddish English--origin. In virtually every case his explanations were followed by a joke. A well-known example: chutzpah is "that quality enshrined in a man who, having killed his mother and father, throws himself on the mercy of the court because he is an orphan." Brilliant.

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Jan. 27: Lewis Carroll, English writer and humorist

BORN JANUARY 27:

Lewis Carroll (1832-1898) English writer and mathematician. He was a fun and funny guy--a dab hand at puzzles and riddles--who did much of his work to please the children of his friends, one of whom was named Alice. He wrote the novels Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass; and the poems The Hunting of the Snark and "Jabberwocky."

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Nov. 30: Mark Twain, American writer and humorist

BORN NOVEMBER 30:

Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) (1835-1910) American author of novels such as Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer, as well as short stories like "The Man Who Corrupted Hadleyberg" and "The Jumping Frog of Calaveras County." Thought by the uninitiated to be "merely" a writer of "boys' novels," he was also a scathing social critic and entertaining travel writer. An American original.

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Nov. 4: Will Rogers, American character and comedian

BORN NOVEMBER 4:

Will Rogers (1879-1935) American character and "cowboy comedian"--actually, part Cherokee Indian, born on the reservation in what is now Oklahoma. Only minimally educated, he traveled widely then went into vaudeville, first as a trick roper, then commenting humorously on the news. He later wrote a newspaper column, was honorary mayor of Beverly Hills, CA, for a few months, and acted in over 70 films. He died at age 55 in a plane crash. Famous for saying, "I never met a man I didn't like."

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