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JAMES THURBER
James Thurber (1894–1961) Known as a humorist, writer,
and illustrator, Thurber’s work influenced many later writers,
including Kurt Vonnegut and Joseph Heller. Born in Columbus,
Ohio, Thurber was partially blinded when his brother shot him with an arrow. Unable
to participate afterward in games and sports, he developed a rich fantasy life,
which found its outlet in his writings. He served as a journalist for the Chicago
Tribune and Evening Post before joining the newly established
magazine The New Yorker. His first book, Is Sex Necessary? (1929)
was written with fellow New Yorker staffer E.B. White. Another young New
Yorker staffer, Truman Capote, was said to escort Thurber back and forth to
meeting and to his trysts with one of the magazines secretaries.
His modern children’s fairy tales, The 13 Clocks (1950) and The
Wonderful O (1957) were hugely successful, and his story about a man who
compulsively fantasizes, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1941) was
immortalized in the 1947 Danny Kaye movie.
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