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Don Marquis

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Donald Robert Perry Marquis (MAR|kwis} (July 28, 1878 - June 16, 1937) was an American poet, humorist, journalist, novelist, columnist, and playwright. He is remembered best for creating the characters "Archy" and "Mehitabel", supposed authors of humorous verse.

Don Marquis

Don Marquis (1878-1937). Courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

Life[]

Youth and education[]

Marquis was born and raised in Walnut, Illinois.

His brother David died in 1892 at the age of 20; his father James died in 1897.

After graduating from Walnut High School in 1894, Don Marquis attended Knox Academy, a now-defunct preparatory program run by Knox College of Illinois, in 1896, but left after 3 months.

Career[]

From 1902 to 1907 Marquis served on the editorial board of the Atlanta Journal, where he wrote many editorials during the heated election between his publisher Hoke Smith and future Pulitzer Prize winner Clark Howell (Smith was the victor).[1]

In 1909, Marquis married Reina Melcher, with whom he had a son, Jared (1915-1921), and a daughter, Okiya (1918-1931).

Marquis began work for the New York Evening Sun in 1912 and edited for the next 11 years a daily column, "The Sun Dial". During 1922 he left The Evening Sun (shortened to The Sun in 1920) for the New York Tribune (renamed the New York Herald Tribune in 1924), where his daily column, "The Tower" (later "The Lantern") was a great success. He regularly contributed columns and short stories to the Saturday Evening Post, Collier's and American magazines and also appeared in Harper's, Scribner's, Golden Book, and Cosmopolitan.

Reina died on December 2, 1923. 3 years later he married actress Marjorie Potts Vonnegut. She died in her sleep on October 25, 1936.

Marquis died in New York City from a stroke in 1937, after having previously suffered 3 earlier strokes that partly disabled him.

Writing[]

Marquis's best-known creation was Archy, a fictional cockroach (developed as a character during 1916) who had been a free verse poet in a previous life, and who supposedly left poems on Marquis's typewriter by jumping on the keys. Archy usually typed only lower-case letters, without punctuation, because he could not operate the shift key. His supposed writings were a type of social satire, and were used by Marquis as a newspaper column named "archy and mehitabel" (Archy's best friend was a fictional alley cat named Mehitabel). Other characters developed by Marquis included Pete the Pup, Clarence the ghost, and an egomaniacal toad named Warty Bliggins.

Marquis was the author of some 35 books. He co-wrote (or contributed posthumously) to the films The Sports Pages, Shinbone Alley, The Good Old Soak and Skippy. The 1926 film The Cruise of the Jasper B was supposedly based on his 1916 novel of the same name, although the plots have little in common.

Recognition[]

On August 23, 1943, the United States Navy christened a Liberty ship, the USS Don Marquis (IX-215), in his memory.

Publications[]

Poetry[]

archy the cockroach[]

  • archy and mehitabel. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Page, 1927; London: Heinemann, 1927
    • (illustrated by George Herriman). Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Doran, 1930; London: Ernest Benn, 1931.
  • archys life of mehitabel. London: Faber, 1934.
  • archy does his part (illustrated by George Herriman). Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Doran, 1935; London: Faber, 1936.
  • the lives and times of archy and mehitabel (omnibus; illustrated by George Herriman). Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Doran, 1940.
  • archyology: the long-lost tales of archy and mehitabel (edited by Jeff Adams; illustrated by Ed Frascino). Hanover, NH: University Press of New England, 1996.
  • archyology ii: the final dig: the long-lost tales of archy and mehitabel (edited by Jeff Adams; illustrated by Ed Frascino). Hanover, NH: University Press of New England, 1998.
  • The Annotated Archy and Mehitabel (edited by Michael Sims). New York: Penguin, 2006.
  • The Best of Archy &Mehitabel (illustrated by George Herriman). New York: Knopf, 2011.

Play[]

  • The Dark Hours: Five scenes from a history (first produced March 14, 1932 Maryland Theatre, Baltimore, Maryland; opened on Broadway November 14, 1932, ran 8 performances). Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Page, 1924; London: Heinemann, 1924.
  • Words and Thoughts. New York & London: D. Appleton, 1924.
  • Out of the Sea. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Page, 1927. (play)
  • Master of the Revels: A comedy in four acts. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Doran, 1934.
  • Everything's Jake. Tacoma WA: Non-Profit Press, 1978.

Novels[]

  • Danny's Own Story. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Page, 1912.
  • The Cruise of the Jasper B. New York & London: D. Appleton, 1916.
  • Pandora Lifts the Lid (with Christopher Morley). New York: Doran, 1924; London: Cape, 1924; Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Pagr, 1927.
  • Off the Arm. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Doran, 1930.
  • Sons of the Puritans. New York: Doubleday, Doran, 1939 (novel)

Short fiction[]

Non-fiction[]

  • Prefaces (essays). New York & London: D. Appleton, 1919.
  • The Old Soak's History of the World: With occasional glances at Baycliff, L.I., and Paris, France. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Page, 1924.
  • The Almost Perfect State. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Page, 1927.

Collected editions[]

  • The Best of Don Marquis (illustrated by George Herriman; with introduction by Christopher Marley). Garden City, NY: Garden City Books, 1939.

Letters[]

  • Selected Letters (edited by William McCollum, Jr.). Stafford, VA: Northwoods Press, 1982.


"archy's_autobiography"_by_Don_Marquis_(read_by_Tom_O'Bedlam)

"archy's autobiography" by Don Marquis (read by Tom O'Bedlam)

Poetry_Visualized_-_"Only_Thy_Dust"_by_Don_Marquis

Poetry Visualized - "Only Thy Dust" by Don Marquis

Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.[2]

See also[]

References[]

  • Edward Anthony, O Rare Don Marquis. Doubleday, 1962.

Notes[]

  1. ↑ Atlanta: As I remember it," Atlanta Journal, February 19, 1953; ATLHistory.com, November 24, 2008. Web, July 25, 2018.
  2. ↑ Search results = au:Don Marquis, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Dec. 2, 2014.

External links[]

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