Daniel Handler - Wikipedia Daniel Handler For the Uruguayan actor, see Daniel Hendler. Daniel Handler Handler at a party celebrating the publication of The End, the thirteenth and final installment of A Series of Unfortunate Events on October 12, 2006 in New York City Daniel J. Handler ( 1970 - 02 - 28 ) February 28, 1970 ( age 48 ) San Francisco, California, United States Pen name Lemony Snicket Occupation Novelist, screenwriter, musician Nationality American Period 1998 -- present Genre Children 's literature Notable works A Series of Unfortunate Events, All the Wrong Questions, The Basic Eight, Watch Your Mouth, Adverbs Spouse Lisa Brown Children Signature Daniel Handler ( born February 28, 1970 ) is an American writer and musician. He is best known for his children 's series A Series of Unfortunate Events and All the Wrong Questions, published under the pseudonym Lemony Snicket. The former was adapted into a Nickelodeon film in 2004, and a Netflix series from 2017 onwards. Handler has also published adult novels and a stage play under his real name, and other children 's books under the Snicket pseudonym. His first book The Basic Eight was rejected by many publishers for its dark subject matter. Handler has also played the accordion in several bands. Contents 1 Personal life 2 Professional work 2.1 Books 2.1. 1 Lemony Snicket 2.2 Music 2.2. 1 Discography 2.3 Theater 2.4 Film and television 2.4. 1 Filmography 2.4. 2 Television credits 3 Controversy 4 Bibliography 4.1 Books published as Daniel Handler 4.2 What the Swedes Read columns in The Believer 5 References 6 External links Personal life Handler was born in San Francisco, California, the son of Sandra Handler ( née Walpole ) a retired City College of San Francisco Dean, and Louis Handler, an accountant. His father was a Jewish refugee from Germany, and he is distantly related to British writer Hugh Walpole through his mother. He has a younger sister, Rebecca Handler. Handler has been a voracious reader since childhood, and his favorite author was William Keepers Maxwell, Jr. He attended Commodore Sloat Elementary, Herbert Hoover Middle School, and Lowell High School. He graduated from Wesleyan University in 1992. He was awarded the 1992 Connecticut Student Poet Prize which he claims was earned by ripping off Elizabeth Bishop. He is an alumnus of the San Francisco Boys Chorus. He is married to Lisa Brown, a graphic artist whom he met in college. They have a son, Otto Handler, born in 2003. They live in an old Edwardian house in San Francisco. Handler is politically active and helped form LitPAC. In the June 10, 2007 edition of The New York Times Magazine, Handler revealed ambivalence toward his wealth and the expectations that it creates. He stated that he is often asked for money for charitable causes and often gives. Handler and his wife have donated $1,000,000 to Planned Parenthood, and he has supported the Occupy Wall Street movement. Handler describes himself as a secular humanist and an atheist. In addition, he says, `` I 'm not a believer in predetermined fates, being rewarded for one 's efforts. I 'm not a believer in karma. The reason why I try to be a good person is because I think it 's the right thing to do. If I commit fewer bad acts there will be fewer bad acts, maybe other people will join in committing fewer bad acts, and in time there will be fewer and fewer of them. '' Professional work Books Six of Daniel Handler 's major works have been published under his name. His first, The Basic Eight, was rejected by many publishers for its subject matter and tone ( a dark view of a teenage girl 's life ). Handler claims that the novel was rejected 37 times before finally being published in 1998. Watch Your Mouth, his second novel, was completed before publication of The Basic Eight. It follows a more operatic theme, complete with stage directions and various acts. Watch Your Mouth 's second half replaces the opera troupe with the form of a 12 - step recovery program, linguistically undergone by the protagonist. In April 2005, Handler published Adverbs, a collection of short stories that he says are `` about love. '' It was followed in January 2011 by Why We Broke Up which received a 2012 Michael L. Printz honor award. Handler 's novel, We Are Pirates is about a modern - age pirate who `` wants to be an old - fashioned kind of pirate. '' It was released on February 3, 2015. His most recent novel, All the Dirty Parts, was published in May 2017 and `` takes the blunt and constant presence of a male teen 's sexuality and considers it with utmost seriousness ''. He served as a judge for the PEN / Phyllis Naylor Working Writer Fellowship in 2012. In 2016, he founded Per Diem Press, a poetry competition for young writers. He awarded $1,000 to three prize winners and published a chapbook with their work. Lemony Snicket Main article : Lemony Snicket Handler at a book signing in 2006 Handler wrote the bestselling series of 13 novels A Series of Unfortunate Events under the Snicket pseudonym from 1999 to 2006. The books concern three orphaned children who experience increasingly terrible events following the death of their parents and burning of their home ( done by a man named Count Olaf and his troupe of associates ), and Snicket acts as the narrator and biographer of the fictional orphans. He has also narrated the audiobooks for three consecutive books in the series, before deciding to quit because he found it too difficult, handing back the narrating job to the original narrator, Tim Curry. From 2012 to 2015, Handler published the four - part series All the Wrong Questions under the name Lemony Snicket ; the books explore Snicket 's childhood and V.F.D. apprenticeship in the failing town Stain 'd - by - the - Sea. He has also written other children 's novels under the Snicket name, including companion books to his two Snicket series, and children 's books such as The Composer is Dead and The Latke Who Could n't Stop Screaming. Music Handler playing and singing at a reading of The End in 2006. Handler was in two bands following college, The Edith Head Trio and Tzamboni, but it was n't until 69 Love Songs, a three - album set by The Magnetic Fields, that his music attracted attention. Handler played accordion on a number of tracks in 69 Love Songs. In the box set of the project, Handler provides a lengthy interview with band leader Stephin Merritt about the project, as well as conversations about each song. Handler also appears in the 2009 documentary Strange Powers, by Kerthy Fix and Gail O'Hara, about Merritt and the Magnetic Fields. He has gone on to play accordion in several other Merritt projects, including music by The Magnetic Fields, The 6ths and The Gothic Archies, the last of which provided songs for the audiobooks in the A Series of Unfortunate Events children 's book series. On October 10, 2006, an album by the Gothic Archies was released with all thirteen songs from the thirteen audiobooks in A Series of Unfortunate Events, along with two bonus songs. In the audio commentary on the film adaptation Lemony Snicket 's A Series of Unfortunate Events, Handler plays a song about how depressing it is to have leeches in a film. Daniel Handler wrote the lyrics to the song `` Radio, '' performed by One Ring Zero, and the lyrics to `` The Gibbons Girl '' by Chris Ewen 's The Hidden Variable. Discography 69 Love Songs -- The Magnetic Fields Hyacinths and Thistles -- The 6ths The Tragic Treasury : Songs from A Series of Unfortunate Events -- The Gothic Archies Distortion -- The Magnetic Fields Nevermind the Context -- Moth Wranglers The Composer Is Dead -- A collaboration with Nathaniel Stookey, premiered in San Francisco at Davies Symphony Hall on July 8, 2006 Realism -- The Magnetic Fields `` Barricade '' -- Stars Love at the Bottom of the Sea -- The Magnetic Fields Theater In 2017, Handler wrote the play Imaginary Comforts, or The Story of The Ghost of The Dead Rabbit, which was performed at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre. The satirical play follows the intertwining lives of three characters and is inspired by the grief Handler felt after the death of his father. Film and television Handler has also had some success in film work. He produced the screenplay for Rick, which was based on the Verdi opera Rigoletto, as well as Kill the Poor, which was based on the novel by Joel Rose. Handler was involved in the screenwriting process for the film Lemony Snicket 's A Series of Unfortunate Events, but was ultimately removed from the project. He had completed eight separate drafts of the film before giving up following a change in those who were producing the film. Robert Gordon was hired to replace Handler and eventually received credit for the film 's screenplay, under Handler 's request. Handler did submit a commentary track for the DVD version, alongside director Brad Silberling. In character as Lemony Snicket, he derides the Lemony Snicket in the film -- played by Jude Law -- as an impostor, as well as choosing to play accordion and sing about leeches rather than pay attention to the film. At numerous times during the track he shows great sympathy towards the Baudelaire children, and implies that he is being held captive by the director in order to do the commentary. Handler was a writer on the Netflix series A Series of Unfortunate Events, also contributing lyrics to the show 's theme song, which varies each episode. The show has won several accolades, including a Peabody Award in 2017 for excellence in Children 's & Youth Programming. Filmography Rick ( 2003 ) Lemony Snicket 's A Series of Unfortunate Events ( 2004 ) Kill the Poor ( 2006 ) Television credits A Series of Unfortunate Events - Executive Producer, Teleplay by, title theme and original song lyrics Controversy At the National Book Awards ceremony in November 2014, Handler made a controversial remark after author Jacqueline Woodson was presented with an award for young people 's literature. Woodson, who is black, won the award for Brown Girl Dreaming. During the ceremony, Handler noted that Woodson is allergic to watermelon, a reference to the racist watermelon stereotype. His comments were immediately criticized ; Handler apologized via Twitter and donated $10,000 to We Need Diverse Books, and promised to match donations up to $100,000. In a New York Times op - ed published shortly thereafter, `` The Pain of the Watermelon Joke '', Jacqueline Woodson explained that `` in making light of that deep and troubled history '' with his joke, Daniel Handler had come from a place of ignorance, but underscored the need for her mission to `` give people a sense of this country 's brilliant and brutal history, so no one ever thinks they can walk onto a stage one evening and laugh at another 's too often painful past ''. In February 2018, Handler signed an online pledge to boycott conferences which do not have and enforce harassment policies. Underneath his comment, author Kate Messner recounted an incident in which Handler had made inappropriate jokes directed at her, such as `` Are you a virgin, too ? ! '' and `` These children 's book events always turn into orgies ! '' This led to many other women accusing Handler of verbal sexual harassment at book conferences ; among the public accusations are stories of Handler telling a woman he had just met to kiss a random stranger, making crass comments to a teenage girl and walking off without apology when confronted, referring to a stranger as a `` hot blonde '' and making a `` uni-ball '' double entendre in front of young children. The incident is part of the larger Me Too movement. Handler apologised for his behaviour, saying that `` It has never been my wish to insult any of my professional colleagues '', `` my sense of humor has not been for everyone '', `` as a survivor of sexual violence, I also know very well how words or behaviors that are harmless or even liberating to some people can be upsetting to others '' and `` I am listening and willing to listen ; I am learning and willing to learn. '' Following this, students at Wesleyan University began to protest Handler 's upcoming planned commencement speech at the university. In March 2018, Wesleyan president Michael S. Roth announced that Handler had stepped down from the position, to be replaced by Anita Hill. Bibliography Further information : Lemony Snicket bibliography Handler has published a variety of books under the name Lemony Snicket ; this section lists works published under his own name. Books published as Daniel Handler Handler, Daniel. The Basic Eight. New York : Thomas Dunne 1995. Watch Your Mouth St. Martin 's Press / HarperCollins ( 2000 ) How to Dress for Every Occasion, by the Pope ( with illustrations by Sarah `` Pinkie '' Bennett, pseudonym for Lisa Brown ) McSweeney 's ( 2005 ) Adverbs St. Martin 's Press / HarperCollins ( 2006 ) Why We Broke Up ( 2011 ) We Are Pirates ( 2014 ) All the Dirty Parts ( 2017 ) As editor or contributor : Nonsense Novels by Stephen Leacock ( Introduction ) New York Review of Books Classics ( 2004 ) Noisy Outlaws, Unfriendly Blobs and Some Other Things That Are n't as Scary, Maybe, Depending on How You Feel About Lost Lands, Stray Cellphones, Creatures from the Sky, Parents Who Disappear in Peru, a Man Named Lars Farf and One Other Story We Could n't Quite Finish, So Maybe You Could Help Us Out by McSweeney 's ( Introduction and Unfinished story ) The Confidence - Man : His Masquerade by Herman Melville ( Preface ) Dalkey Archive Press ( 2007 ) The Hour : A Cocktail Manifesto by Bernard DeVoto ( Introduction ) Republished by Tin House Books ( 2010 ) `` Half - Minute Horrors '' What the swedes read columns in the believer `` A reader makes his way through one book by each Nobel Laureate. '' Year Country Nobel Laureate Work discussed Issue and date 1959 Italy Salvatore Quasimodo The selected writings ; ( trans ) Allen Mandelbaum 11 / 3 ( Mar - Apr 2013 ) References Jump up ^ Californiabirthindex.org Jump up ^ Jeffries, Stuart ( 7 February 2015 ). `` Daniel Handler : ' How old does a child need to be to appreciate Lemony Snicket ? ' ''. The Guardian. Retrieved 11 May 2015. Jump up ^ Jeffries, Stuart ( 2015 - 02 - 07 ). `` Daniel Handler : ' How old does a child need to be to appreciate Lemony Snicket ? ' ''. The Guardian. Retrieved 2018 - 02 - 01. Jump up ^ `` Lemony Snicket ''. The Wee Web. 2011. Archived from the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved January 24, 2011. Jump up ^ Salamon, Julie ( September 23, 2004 ). `` Lemony Snicket 's Down and Dirty Indie ''. The New York Times. Retrieved January 24, 2011. Jump up ^ Westbrook, Caroline ( June 5, 2006 ). `` Daniel Handler interview ''. SomethingJewish. Retrieved January 24, 2011. Jump up ^ `` Daniel Handler : By the Book ''. New York Times. 22 January 2015. Retrieved 11 May 2015. Jump up ^ Sparks, Karen. `` Daniel Handler ''. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 11 May 2015. Jump up ^ `` Happy, Snappy, Sappy '' by Daniel Handler Jump up ^ Handler, Daniel ( June 10, 2007 ). `` Adjusted Income ''. The New York Times Magazine. Retrieved August 15, 2014. Jump up ^ White, Daniel ( 20 November 2014 ). `` Lemony Snicket Pledges $1 M to Planned Parenthood ''. TIME. United States. Retrieved 27 April 2018. Jump up ^ Occupy Writers Jump up ^ `` CNN.com -- Lemony Snicket reaches ' The End ' -- Oct 5, 2006 ''. CNN. Retrieved April 30, 2010. Jump up ^ `` Handler says he 's ' pretty much ' an atheist... '' Autumn of a book - lover 's contentment, Marvin Olasky, World Magazine, October 7, 2006 ( Accessed April 5, 2008 ) Jump up ^ WORLD Magazine Today 's News, Christian Views ^ Jump up to : Bennett, Hayden ( 1 September 2017 ). `` ' All the Dirty Parts, ' by Daniel Handler ''. San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 5 September 2017. Jump up ^ Ala.org Jump up ^ Columbiajournal.org Archived April 7, 2014, at the Wayback Machine. Jump up ^ Minzesheimer, Bob ( October 11, 2006 ). `` An ' Unfortunate ' end ''. USA Today. Jump up ^ `` We Are Pirates : A Novel ''. Amazon. Retrieved February 10, 2015. Jump up ^ `` All the Dirty Parts ''. Bloomsbury Publishing. Retrieved 5 September 2017. Jump up ^ `` 2012 PEN / Phyllis Naylor Working Writer Fellowship ''. PEN American Center. Retrieved February 6, 2013. Jump up ^ `` Daniel Handler spends a windfall on poetry ''. San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2018 - 06 - 05. Jump up ^ `` Daniel Handler Crowns Three Poets Per Diem Winners by Harriet Staff ''. Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation. 2018 - 06 - 05. Retrieved 2018 - 06 - 05. Jump up ^ `` Tortuous Tales ''. A Series of Unfortunate Events. n.p. Retrieved 2012 - 04 - 16. Jump up ^ `` Review : `` Imaginary Comforts, or The Story of the Ghost of the Dead Rabbit '' at Berkeley Repertory Theatre ``. OnStage Blog. Retrieved 2018 - 05 - 25. Jump up ^ `` Down the rabbit hole with ' Imaginary Comforts ' writer Daniel Handler ''. The Daily Californian. 2017 - 10 - 12. Retrieved 2018 - 05 - 25. Jump up ^ `` Daniel Handler ( a.k.a Lemony Snicket ) explains why he 's less involved with ' Unfortunate Events ' on Netflix - The Boston Globe ''. BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved 2018 - 05 - 18. Jump up ^ `` Here 's What Went Into Making ' A Series of Unfortunate Events ' Superb Theme Song ''. Decider. 2018 - 04 - 09. Retrieved 2018 - 05 - 18. Jump up ^ `` Highlighting the Best Storytelling of 2017 ''. Retrieved 2018 - 05 - 18. Jump up ^ The Daily Telegraph Jump up ^ Gambino, Lauren ( 20 November 2014 ). `` Lemony Snicket apologizes for watermelon joke about black writer at National Book Awards ''. The Guardian. London. Retrieved 21 November 2014. Jump up ^ Cohen, Anne ( November 20, 2014 ). `` Lemony Snicket 's Series of Unfortunate Racist Jokes ''. The Jewish Daily Forward. Retrieved 30 November 2014. Jump up ^ Ohlheiser, Abby ( 21 November 2014 ). `` Daniel Handler does more than apologize for his ' watermelon ' joke ''. The Washington Post. Retrieved 30 November 2014. Jump up ^ Woodson, Jacqueline ( 28 November 2014 ). `` The Pain of the Watermelon Joke ''. The New York Times. Retrieved 30 November 2014. Jump up ^ Frizell, Sam ( 29 November 2014 ). `` Jacqueline Woodson Responds to Racist Watermelon Joke ''. Time. Retrieved 30 November 2014. Jump up ^ `` Award - Winning Author Jacqueline Woodson Responds To Racist Joke ''. The Huffington Post. Associated Press. 29 November 2014. Retrieved 30 November 2014. ^ Jump up to : Lockett, Dee ( 22 February 2018 ). `` Lemony Snicket Accused of Making Lewd Comments About Female Authors ''. Vulture. Retrieved 13 March 2018. ^ Jump up to : Perry, David M. ( 21 February 2018 ). `` HOW WILL PUBLISHING DEAL WITH LEMONY SNICKET AMID # METOO ? ''. Pacific Standard. Retrieved 13 March 2018. ^ Jump up to : Binkley, Collin ; Italie, Hillel ( 1 March 2018 ). `` Author cancels graduation speech amid harassment allegations ''. The Washington Post. Retrieved 13 March 2018. Jump up ^ Madani, Doha ( 2 March 2018 ). `` ' Lemony Snicket ' Out As Wesleyan Speaker Amid Reports Of Inappropriate Comments ''. HuffPost. Retrieved 13 March 2018. External links Wikiquote has quotations related to : Daniel Handler Wikimedia Commons has media related to Daniel Handler. Official website All the Wrong Questions ( official ) A Series of Unfortunate Events ( official ) Daniel Handler on IMDb Biography at Barclay Agency Daniel Handler at Library of Congress Authorities, with 10 catalog records, and Handler at WorldCat Lemony Snicket at LC Authorities, with 45 records, and Snicket at WorldCat Works of Daniel Handler Novels The Basic Eight Watch Your Mouth Adverbs Why We Broke Up We Are Pirates Screenplays Lemony Snicket 's A Series of Unfortunate Events ( source material ) Rick Kill the Poor See also Lemony Snicket Works by Lemony Snicket A Series of Unfortunate Events Novels The Bad Beginning The Reptile Room The Wide Window The Miserable Mill The Austere Academy The Ersatz Elevator The Vile Village The Hostile Hospital The Carnivorous Carnival The Slippery Slope The Grim Grotto The Penultimate Peril The End Related works The Unauthorized Autobiography The Beatrice Letters Horseradish : Bitter Truths You Ca n't Avoid Media Feature film Soundtrack Video game The Tragic Treasury TV series Other Characters All the Wrong Questions Who Could That Be at This Hour ? When Did You See Her Last ? Should n't You Be in School ? Why Is This Night Different From All Other Nights ? Other works The Latke Who Could n't Stop Screaming The Lump of Coal The Composer Is Dead Related Daniel Handler Brett Helquist Seth Portal Book BNE : XX4799377 BNF : cb15786623g ( data ) GND : 1074123808 ISNI : 0000 0001 2146 6844 LCCN : n98075683 MusicBrainz : 283a74d8 - ba3f - 4710 - 8e59 - 22eb7caad238 NDL : 00858710 SELIBR : 264874 SUDOC : 128725338 VIAF : 107605420 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Daniel_Handler&oldid=847729641 '' Categories : Daniel Handler 1970 births 20th - century American novelists 21st - century American novelists American atheists American feminists American accordionists American children 's writers American humanists American male novelists American male screenwriters American short story writers Audiobook narrators Living people Wesleyan University alumni Jewish atheists Jewish feminists Jewish American novelists Jewish humanists American horror writers Postmodern writers Pseudonymous writers Writers from San Francisco American male short story writers Hidden categories : Webarchive template wayback links Use mdy dates from December 2013 All articles lacking reliable references Articles lacking reliable references from April 2014 All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from July 2017 Articles with unsourced statements from March 2018 Official website different in Wikidata and Wikipedia Wikipedia articles with BNE identifiers Wikipedia articles with BNF identifiers Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Wikipedia articles with ISNI identifiers Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers Wikipedia articles with MusicBrainz identifiers Wikipedia articles with NDL identifiers Wikipedia articles with SELIBR identifiers Wikipedia articles with SUDOC identifiers Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Talk Contents About Wikipedia Wikiquote አማርኛ تۆرکجه Български Bosanski Català Čeština Eesti Español فارسی Français 한국어 Bahasa Indonesia Italiano עברית Bahasa Melayu 日本 語 Norsk Polski Português Русский Simple English Suomi Svenska Türkçe Українська اردو Tiếng Việt 中文 20 more Edit links This page was last edited on 27 June 2018, at 11 : 25 ( UTC ). 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Question: who is the real author of a series of unfortunate events
Answer: Daniel Handler