Poet, Humorist. Born in Rye, New York, he went to a school in Newport, Rhode Island, and Savannah, Georgia. Later he attended Harvard University for one year but left because of family financial difficulties. He became a teacher at St. George's School, Rhode Island but resigned disliking the stress of dealing with teenage students. He started work writing advertising copy for Doubleday, Page Publishing, New York, in 1925, and shortly found himself a published author - his first book for children, The Cricket of Caradon. After years of writing advertising copy as an editor and publicist at Doubleday he began his career as a poet by scribbling. His scribbles were to become a poem called Spring Comes to Murray Hill, first published in the New Yorker magazine in 1930. He joined the staff at the magazine two years later. He published a collection of his poetry, Hard Lines, in 1931. Hard Lines sold out seven printings in its first year and crowned Nash king of light verse. Nash managed to become one of the most popular and most quoted poets of his time. Eventually he would publish 19 books of poetry. He also lectured extensively throughout the United States and England. When he was not writing poetry, Nash appeared on various radio, game, and comedy shows in the 1940s and wrote scores for TV shows in the 1950s, including lyrics for the show "Peter and the Wolf." In 1943 Nash collaborated with Kurt Weill and S. J. Perelman on One Touch of Venus, a musical comedy. He was elected to the National Institute of Arts and Letters in 1950 he continued to write, publish and lecture until very close to the end of his life. Although he had a house in New York his principal home was in Baltimore, Maryland, and it was there he died in 1971.
Poet, Humorist. Born in Rye, New York, he went to a school in Newport, Rhode Island, and Savannah, Georgia. Later he attended Harvard University for one year but left because of family financial difficulties. He became a teacher at St. George's School, Rhode Island but resigned disliking the stress of dealing with teenage students. He started work writing advertising copy for Doubleday, Page Publishing, New York, in 1925, and shortly found himself a published author - his first book for children, The Cricket of Caradon. After years of writing advertising copy as an editor and publicist at Doubleday he began his career as a poet by scribbling. His scribbles were to become a poem called Spring Comes to Murray Hill, first published in the New Yorker magazine in 1930. He joined the staff at the magazine two years later. He published a collection of his poetry, Hard Lines, in 1931. Hard Lines sold out seven printings in its first year and crowned Nash king of light verse. Nash managed to become one of the most popular and most quoted poets of his time. Eventually he would publish 19 books of poetry. He also lectured extensively throughout the United States and England. When he was not writing poetry, Nash appeared on various radio, game, and comedy shows in the 1940s and wrote scores for TV shows in the 1950s, including lyrics for the show "Peter and the Wolf." In 1943 Nash collaborated with Kurt Weill and S. J. Perelman on One Touch of Venus, a musical comedy. He was elected to the National Institute of Arts and Letters in 1950 he continued to write, publish and lecture until very close to the end of his life. Although he had a house in New York his principal home was in Baltimore, Maryland, and it was there he died in 1971.
Bio by: Iola
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