|
 American
humorist and journalist. Cuppy was best known for his mock-scientific
observations of nature, and one of his favourite places for observation
was the Bronx Zoo. His method was to read as much as possible about
his subject, then write an essay of about two pages. Cuppy satirized
with his dry and subtle humour everything from arrogant experts
to modern society and popular culture.
"It's easy to see the faults in people I know; it's hardest
to see the good. Especially when the good isn't there."
Will Cuppy was born in Auburn, Indiana. His father, Thomas Jefferson
Cuppy, was a lumber buyer for a railroad. In his childhood young
Will spent happy summers on the Cuppy farm near South Whitely, where
he acquired his first knowledge of nature. He attended the Auburn
public schools and in 1902 he entered the University of Chicago.
During these years Cuppy worked as a reporter for several Chicago
newspapers and studied literature. He graduated in 1907 and continued
his studies for Ph.D. In 1914 he decided to settle for an M.A. degree
and moved to New York.
"Etiquette means behaving yourself a little better than is
absolutely essential."
As a writer Cuppy made his debut with MAROON TALES, which appeared
in 1910. It was written while he was in graduate school. The collection
included eight stories about college and fraternity life. Nineteen
years later appeared HOW TRO BE HERMIT (1929), which was based on
Cuppy's experiences on Jones Island, off Long Island.
 Most
of the stories in HOW TO TELL YOUR FRIENDS FROM THE APES (1931)
appeared first in New Yorker. Cuppy was a book reviewer for
the old New York Herald-Tribune - the column was published
under the title 'Mystery and Adventure'. He also wrote for the Saturday
Evening Post.
Cuppy's lifestyle was reclusive. He had a city apartment in Greenwich
Village, where he did his writing at night. "I do not travel. I
am not much of an extrovert, and I'm not much interested in extroverted
objects. I do not care for the 'ideas' of novelists. Novels are
wonderful, of course, but I prefer newspapers." (from World Authors
1900-1950, see below). Cuppy became in the 1930s a well-known figure
in New York literary circles. In the 1940s he edited three collections
of crime and mystery stories.
Cuppy died on September 19, in 1949. He was buried in Auburn's
Evergreen Cemetery next to his mother, Frances Stahl Cuppy. In mid-1980s
Cuppy's readers placed a new headstone for his grave, to honor the
memory of the writer.
In 1950 appeared posthumously Cuppy's THE DECLINE AND FALL OF PRACTICALLY
EVERYBODY, which was edited by his friend Fred Feldkamp. The well-planned
and researched book went through the great historical figures from
ancient Egypt to Queen Victoria. Feldkamp also edited HOW TO GET
FROM JANUARY TO DECEMBER (1951). Cuppy's quotations have appeared
in several anthologies, among others in The Wordsworth Dictionary
of Quotations, and his satirical works are still on print.
"Henry VIII had so many wives because his dynastic sense was
very strong whenever he saw a maid of honour."
For further reading: World Authors 1900-1950, ed. by Martin
Seymour-Smith and Andrew C. Kimmens (1996); Contemporary Authors
Vol. 108, (1983); The American Humorist by N.W. Yeats (1964) -
See also: Charles Nordhoff
|
