Detroit evening times., 1943-01-15

turn over few pages and find
Henry, and draw a mustache on
him (and add a moderate
amount of haiO you'll have
+. p. A.
There's something common to
them both In their sense Of
humor, but I don't know exactly
what. DroIlery, maybe. And
one difference-F. p, A. II al
ways making puns. In fact.
some people object to him on
that account, but / like puns,
aad him.
The la.est of his puns IL one
he used on Information Please,
when the question was:
what actor IL nicknamed
Red ."
r. r. A. answered;
"Sinclair Lewis"
Then he discovered Lewis sit
ting In the audience.
Lewis has been getting bald,
30 Adams blurted into the micro
phone:
Better known IA Scarlet
No-hair-a."
F. p. A. has been writing
his poems and puns IN news
paper columns for about 40
years. up until recently. which
is a long time 20 keep doing
any kind of Job. and probably
a record for columnstS who
usually go raving mad long be-
fore they have had 40 years
OF IL.
People have asked him
whether he enjoys being re-
leased from the newspaper grind,
and he says:
"Not being on n newspaper
IL like playing poker for fun
which just Isn't anything
He was supposed 10 speak on
Inside Information Please, but
he is an inveterate digreSsor.
He covered that topic. but he
also took slices of Inside +. p.
A.. Inside Earl Derr BiggerS and
Inside Wendell Willkie. Sam
pies
I'm doing this Oecturing)-
and I don't want this 90 90 any
farther - because I'm working
my boys way through college"
Earl Derr Biggers, who was
doing n column on the Boston
Traveller. didn't care much for
II. He said that being funny In
Boston ls like making faces In
church."
"Wlllkie twho was on Info.
Pls.l was very good on spontan-
eous stuff-much better than on
his political campaign. II he
had not taken the campaign so
seriously, he might have been
elected"
Hc Just rambles from one
thing 20 another. There may
be some pattern to il, but if so,
IL isn't obvious. lie gives a
little OF this and little Of that.
He likes Jan Struther and Cor
nelia Otis Skinner
"Women guests are like women
motor drivers-if they're good,
they're so good that there's no
comparison"
John Kieran knows Shake
speare so well because his copy
OF Shakespeare happened to be
small enough 10 fit in his pocket
and he took it through the last
war with him TO read.
He was still wandering around
nj the end of his lecture. He
was reading some of the choicer
poems contributed to his col
umn. There was n fuss behind
him. and the backdrop started
10 shake. Somebody I'm back of
IL was making n commotion.
Adams looked around Mt II,
then looked back at the audience
and said:
"They say I've got to stop
now. That concludes my part
OF the entertainment. was
going 10 read something very
wonderful Of my own, but they
say I can't"
He then started To walk off
the stage, remembered that he
hadn't bowed, turned and made
n sort OF self-conscious bow, and
then was rescued when some
body backstage closed the main
curtains.
Z With everybody so intent on
going somewhere or doing some
thing specific, II is n relief to
find somebody like r. r. A. who
doesn't seem TO know where he
Is going, and doesn't give a darn,
but has fun anyway.
He read some Of his poems
which were (as he had adj
mittted) wonderful. The only
one we can remember, though. is
the one he wrote 10 show how
he feels about his three teen
age sons. This isn't exactly
right. but it's roughly IL, as near
1. "a