Do you know this man?



1885-1933

 No?

I'm not surprised. I wouldn't either.

This fellow, Ringgold Wilmer Lardner (or more commonly known by the monosyllabic moniker, Ring) began his career as a sports columnist in Chicago, Boston and St. Louis. Eventually expanding his work to include humorous short stories and plays, he is responsible for arguably one of the funniest and most useful lines in American fiction.

Here's a bit of dialogue from his short story, The Young Immigrants. A young son says to his father:

'Are you lost, daddy?' I arsked tenderly. 'Shut up,' he explained.

A very handy explanation in my book, one to keep in the back pocket whenever inconvenient questions wander into a conversation.

More about Ring...

P.S. Look at that typewriter!!! *swoon*