Damon Runyon Favorites
About this ebook
Here are some stories by Damon Runyon—the man who, according to Walter Winchell, knows more about the Roaring Forties than any other writing man. Included are many of the stories that have made him famous. There are "Little Miss Marker," "The Hottest Guy in the World," and "Madame La Gimp," who went Hollywood and became the celebrated Lady for a Day.
You'll enjoy meeting some of Mr. Runyon's friends, socially. You'll like Harry the Horse and Spanish John and Little Isadore—hard characters, perhaps, but they would be hurt if you called them kidnapers. Then there's Big False Face, the Beer Baron. The police sent him to college at a place called Auburn, N. Y., and he also did post-graduate work at Ossining and Dannemora. And you'll meet Princess O'Hara and Goldberg, her horse, named after a guy who runs a delicatessen store on Tenth Avenue, and Last Card Louie, and The Brain himself. A veritable banquet is contained in these pages for all those who like their Runyon straight.
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About the author
DAMON RUNYON (1880-1946) was an American newspaperman and short-story writer. He was best known for his short stories celebrating the world of Broadway in New York City that grew out of the Prohibition era. He spun humorous and sentimental tales of gamblers, hustlers, actors, and gangsters, with characters that went by colorful monikers such as "Nathan Detroit", "Big Jule", "Harry the Horse", "Good Time Charley", or "Dave the Dude".
Born Alfred Damon Runyan on October 4, 1880 in Manhattan, Kansas, his family moved westward in 1882, eventually settling in Pueblo, Colorado in 1887, where Runyon spent the rest of his youth and began to work in the newspaper trade under his father.
In 1898 Runyon enlisted in the U.S. Army to fight in the Spanish-American War, and was assigned to write for the Manila Freedom and Soldier's Letter. He then began working for various Colorado newspapers in 1900, his first job being as a reporter for the Pueblo Star. This was followed by serving as sporting editor and then as a staff writer in the Rocky Mountain area, including the Denver Star News, during the first decade of the 1900s.
Runyon moved to New York City in 1910 and for the next ten years covered the New York Giants and professional boxing for the New York American. He was the Hearst newspapers' baseball columnist, beginning in 1911, and his knack for spotting the eccentric and the unusual, on the field or in the stands, was credited with revolutionizing the way baseball was covered.
He died in New York City on December 10, 1946, aged 66.
WALTER WINCHELL (1897-1972) was a popular American newspaper gossip columnist and radio news commentator. Originally a vaudeville performer, Winchell began his newspaper career as Broadway reporter, critic and columnist for New York tabloids in the Roaring Twenties. He rose to national celebrity in the 1930s with Hearst newspaper chain syndication and a popular radio program.
