Biography of Ogden Nash

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Biography of Ogden Nash

Fredric Ogden Nash was an American humorist who lived from 1902 to 1971.

He was born in 1902 in Rye, New York, where he grew up with well educated

parents. Microsoft Encarta 95 said that his parents names were Edmund Strudwick

Nash and Mattie Nash. During his childhood years, Nash was educated at several

private schools. At these schools, he enjoyed writing his own comical and dramatic

free verse poems.

After graduating out of grammar school, Nash moved on to one of the best

private high schools in the east: St. George's in Newport, Rhode Island. Moving on

in his life, he enrolled at Harvard at the age of 18 (from 1920-1921).

Contemporary American Poets stated that Nash then took a job in the

editorial and publicity department at the Doubleday and Doran Publishing

Company. He worked very hard at this position, moving up the 'executive' ladder

very quickly.

In only 5 years of work, he became a well-known editor around the

publishing business. Nash then realized that his name was known all over the

publishing companies; and he started to compose works of free verse.

Mindscape Complete Reference Library CD stated that 1931 was the greatest

year of Nash's life. In June, he married Frances Rider Leonard of Baltimore,

Maryland. Also in 1931, he published two books

of free verse: 'Hard Lines' and 'Free Wheeling.' Contemporary

American Poets made an interesting statement on these first two books by Nash:

'These two books show poetry of remarkable freedom of scansion (rhythm pattern)

and uncoventional feelings of thoughts.'

Contemporary American Poets showed clearly that Nash 'paved' the way for

authors of free verse with absolutely no pattern.

After working on other poetry books such as Happy Days (1933), The Bad

Parent's Garden of Verse (1936), and I'm...