The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1922-01-21
.M1NTYRE PAYS
WARM TRIBUTE
TO NOTED E.P.A.
Columnist's jibes Have
Done Much to Aid
Literary Output.
By o. o. MCINTYRE.

NEW YORK, Jan. 2o.-"F. p. A."
has made his initials q Trademarks
for pungent paragraphs. sparkling
verse and the sprightliest comment
about things as they are. Just now
his famous column appears in the
New York World, going there from
the Tribune. where he had been
conducting The Coming Tower"
since 1914.
His fame has. Of course, spread to
all parts Of the globe but It 10 IN
New York that he 10 a particular
favorite. He began his column ca
reer by sending contributions to the
1 late Bert Lesion Taylor. of the Chi
cago Tribune. Adams at the time
was trying to sell insurance.
Taylor recognized the flashes Of
| genius and encouraged him and 20
+. p. A.-or rather Franklin p. Ad-
ams-came to the Evening Mail in
New York as a columnist in 1904
after q brief period on the Chicago
Journal.
There are thousands of Of. p. A."
fans In New York who leap gladly
to hts column each morning. His
contributors are numbered among
| college professors, Supreme Court
Justices, novelists, merchant princes
and artists. 1t Is no little achieve
ment to break into The Tower"
Adams Is a purist and his good
| natured jibes at grammatical errors
and careless writing have done
much to improve the tone OF Amer
ica's literary output. There is no
venom in his humor. 1t Is con-
structive as well as amusing.
He is in his late 30's-a. tall, slen-
der fellow with bright, humorous
eyes and the spirit of Pan. He
comes from race that knows the
oppressor's knout and in F. p. A.
there is a warmth of human SYM
pathy that makes him more than
mere newspaper humorist. 1t is
the essence of greatness.
Each year his contributors give
the "Contrib's Dinner" where the
brightest minds in New York gather
to pay tribute to rThe BOSE"
Adams has never attended one of
these dinners. Very few of those
who send him contributions have
ever seen him.
He elects TO Ibe known by the
printed word. He pokes as much
=.
Once in while his own pen slips
and he Is the FIRST to hold himself
up as target for public scorn. He
has published q half dozen books OF
verse that have had tremendous
sales, and he once wrote a musical
comedy with o. Henry.
Adams was born in Chicago and
was graduated from the Armour
Scientific Academy, and later took a
postgraduate course at the Univer-
sity of Michigan. No man in the
American field of letters is SO well
posted on the works of poets. past
and present. as Adams. 1t is said
that given the first line Of any poem
he can recite il in full.
In the summer months he Is an
ardent tennis fan. and in the winter
he attends the weekly sessions of
the Young Mems Thanatopsis Club
at which he is always trying to
draw to a bobtail flush much to the
delight OF those with big stacks.
He motors to work In a fiivver,
and is deathly afraid OF trafiic cops
He never pokes any fun at them.
In fact, lie halls them all as Can
tain" Courted on all sides by the
great and near great, F. p. A. re-
mains in seclusion and spends his
leisure time with a little group of
writers-most of whom have won
distinction in New York.
They love him for his little weak
nesses. For instance, he recently
confessed in his diary that he had
Sis, an automobile and a few
books. This despite the fact that
he Is one of the highest-paid news
paper writer's in the country.
He is logical successor to Eu-
gene Fields, Bert Lesion Taylor and
few others who have gone before
him. Adams was married to Miss
Minna Schwartze, an actress, OF
as an officer in the intelligence de-
partment during the world war.
Pee Wee" Byers. who bIares a
mean note on the saxophone in a
Broadway dansant, writes ponder
Gus treatises on psychology. Two
of his books have had a large sale
In England. He says he has won
derful opportunities TO study psy-
chology in watching patrons pay
their checks in the particular lob
ster caves where he plays.
He is confirmed clubman who has
gone through the storm and strife of
four divorce scandals and finally set
tied down in his Fifth avenue retreat
TO seek little peace. The other even
ing he came down dressed for dinner.
To friend he remarked: 1--WE just
discovered tonight that there is one
good reason for every man having a
wife. I've been trying to cut 4
hang-nail on my right hand with
my left"