Franklin Pierce Adams, 1881 - 1960
Born: 15 November 1881, Chicago, Illinois
Died: 23 March 1960, New York City
Born Franklin Leopold Adams, he changed his middle name to Pierce at his confirmation in 1894. He graduated from Armour Scientific Academy in 1899 and went on to the University of Michigan but only stayed a year, dropping out to sell life insurance. One of his first customers suggested he try his had at journalism, he worked at the Chicago Journal for a year before moving to New York. He wrote for the New York Evening Mail through 1913, there he started his column which was known as "Always in Good Humor". He moved to the New York Tribune and changed the name of the column to "The Conning Tower", a title he kept until his retirement in 1941. He moved to the New York World (1922) which merged with New York Telegram (1931), back to the Tribune (by then the Herald Tribune, 1937), and finally the New York Post. (He spent World War I at Stars and Stripes.) His column publicized many writers and launched the careers of several, notably including Dorothy Parker and James Thurber. He became so well known that his byline was simply "FPA". He also starred in the radio series Information Please from 1938 to 1948. He suffered memory loss and bad temper starting in the late '40s, probably from Alzheimer's, and spent his last years in a nursing home.
Biography from Wikipedia and Michael Gilleland
Franklin Pierce Adams quotes:
Quotes found : 23 — (15 per page, this is page 1 of 2) 1 2 Next
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- Christmas is over and Business is Business. permalink
Franklin Pierce Adams - Elections are won by men and women chiefly because most people vote against somebody rather than for somebody. permalink
Franklin Pierce Adams - Having imagination it takes you an hour to write a paragraph that if you were unimaginative would take you only a minute. permalink
Franklin Pierce Adams - Health is the thing that makes you feel that now is the best time of the year. permalink
Franklin Pierce Adams - I am easily influenced. Compared with me a weather vane is Gibraltar. permalink
Franklin Pierce Adams - I find that a great part of the information I have was acquired by looking up something and finding something else on the way. permalink
Franklin Pierce Adams - In a body [like Congress] where there are more than one hundred talking lawyers, you can make no calculation upon the termination of any debate. permalink
Franklin Pierce Adams - Ninety-two percent of the stuff told you in confidence you couldn't get anyone else to listen to. permalink
Franklin Pierce Adams - Nothing is more responsible for the good old days than a bad memory. permalink
Franklin Pierce Adams - Since I am used to speaking in public, I know that it is useless. permalink
Franklin Pierce Adams - The best part of the fiction in many novels is the notice that the characters are purely imaginary. permalink
Franklin Pierce Adams - The trouble with this country is that there are too many politicians who believe, with a conviction based on experience, that you can fool all of the people all of the time. permalink
Franklin Pierce Adams - There are plenty of good five-cent cigars in the country. The trouble is they cost a quarter. What this country needs is a good five-cent nickel. permalink
Franklin Pierce Adams - There must be a day or two in a man's life when he is the precise age for something important. permalink
Franklin Pierce Adams - To err is human; to forgive, infrequent. permalink
Franklin Pierce Adams
Quotes found : 23 — (15 per page, this is page 1 of 2) 1 2 Next
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