Dorothy Parker

More inside Ann Landers: A mom offers some rules that teachers should follow. [Page 4d] Index Comics 6d Crossword 7d Movies 4d Television 5d SunSpot The Sun on the Internet: http://www.sunspot.net

I was shuffling books around my library on a recent late summer Saturday afternoon and for some reason or other, paused and opened a somewhat faded blue volume. It was "The Letters of Alexander Woollcott," edited by Beatrice Kaufman and Joseph Hennessey, that had been riding around my shelves, unread, I might add, for years. The posthumous volume of correspondence of the noted anthologist, author, commentator, New Yorker contributor, radio celebrity, actor, celebrated snob both intellectual and otherwise, and perennial Algonquin "Round Table" wit, was published by Viking Press in 1944, a year after his unexpected death.

Almost everyone knows a snippet of Dorothy Parker's tart poetry. Her advice to the lovelorn, for example: "Candy is dandy But liquor is quicker." Or, perhaps ... "Men seldom make passes At girls who wear glasses." Lots of people love the short stories by the brilliant, brittle and erratic Mrs. Parker of the Algonquin Round Table, stories like "The Big Blonde," "A Telephone Call," "Diary of a New York Lady" and a couple dozen more. Lots of her admirers can recite great swaths of her longer poems, such as "Resume."

I Was Told There'd Be Cake By Sloane Crosley "I have never met two people more afraid of their house burning down than my parents," writes Crosley. "Please note my parents are not afraid of burning their house down. ... To them the threat is always an outside force - a neighbor's errant flame-thrower, a burglar who smokes, or, in all likelihood, a youngest child." The essays in this exquisite collection, Crosley's first, spin around a young woman's growing up and her first experiences in a big city.

Excuse her dust -- again. The NAACP's desire to move its headquarters from Baltimore to the nation's capital not only surprised city officials earlier this month, but it also seized the attention of writer Dorothy Parker's admirers. Through an unlikely set of circumstances, Parker's ashes are buried in a memorial garden at the civil rights organization's Northwest Baltimore headquarters. Fans of Parker, the oft-quoted, quintessential New York writer, wondered if she would make the trip to D.C. with the civil rights group.

Dorothy Parker1893-1967Poet, playwright and writer of short fiction, Dorothy Parker is perhaps best known for her sharp, bitingly funny witticisms.At a Halloween party she asked what game guests were playing; on being told "Ducking for apples," Parker replied: "There but for a typographical error, is the story of my life."Parker began her career as a writer in 1916 writing captions for fashion photographs for Vogue. She went on to write drama criticism for Vanity Fair and became part of the famous Algonquin Roundtable.

James Baldwin, ministerWilliam Wordsworth, stamp distributorSir Thomas Wyatt, justice of the peaceDorothy Parker, pianistZora Neale Hurston, anthropologistJohn Gay, Silk mercerSamuel Butler, sheep breederArthur Miller, truck driver, waiterPub Date: 11/30/97

I Was Told There'd Be Cake By Sloane Crosley "I have never met two people more afraid of their house burning down than my parents," writes Crosley. "Please note my parents are not afraid of burning their house down. ... To them the threat is always an outside force - a neighbor's errant flame-thrower, a burglar who smokes, or, in all likelihood, a youngest child." The essays in this exquisite collection, Crosley's first, spin around a young woman's growing up and her first experiences in a big city.

FEW 18- TO 25-year-olds -- the bulk of the movie-going public -- have ever heard of Dorothy Parker, Robert Benchley or the other literati of the famed Algonquin Round Table who litter the soon-to-be-released "Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle."These young people have missed out on discovering a joyous and gin-drenched party.They also are missing out on one of the most important events of modern American letters. The dozen or so writers who met for lunch nearly every day in the Rose Room of the Algonquin Hotel in New York City were the trendsetters of poetry, playwrighting and journalism in the 1920s.

THE LIFE OF DOROTHY PARKER Playwright and singer / songwriter Niki Lee will bring legendary writer Dorothy Parker -- the suicidal, alcoholic, chain-smoking nymphomaniac -- to life in the poignant musical Here Lies Dorothy Parker. Lee, who sold her pickup truck to purchase the rights to perform the works of Parker, has received positive reviews from the Los Angeles Times and Baltimore magazine. .................... The one-woman musical will take place at 6 tonight at Daedalus Books and Music in Belvedere Square, 5911 York Road.

Theodore G. Bloom, a retired Maryland Court of Special Appeals judge known for opinions peppered with literary references, died of pancreatic cancer complications Saturday at Anne Arundel Medical Center. He was 81 and lived in Annapolis. "He was a beloved figure in the Maryland judiciary," said Joseph F. Murphy, chief judge of the Court of Special Appeals. "His mind was razor-sharp, and he quoted beautifully from poetry and song. He was a real scholar with an appreciation for literature."

INSIDE TODAY WHAT THEY'RE SAYING TODAY'S SUN COLUMNISTS Reflections on the birth of "Oriole Magic" and fire deaths that might have been prevented by smoke detectors. Maryland baltimoresun.com/rodricks CDs sparked a revolution Twenty-five years ago this month, the first compact disk rolled off a German production line, paving the way for a generation of devices. Business baltimoresun.com/himowitz OTHER VOICES David Steele on the Orioles -- Sports Karen Nitkin on Silver Moon Diner -- Live!

THE LIFE OF DOROTHY PARKER Playwright and singer / songwriter Niki Lee will bring legendary writer Dorothy Parker -- the suicidal, alcoholic, chain-smoking nymphomaniac -- to life in the poignant musical Here Lies Dorothy Parker. Lee, who sold her pickup truck to purchase the rights to perform the works of Parker, has received positive reviews from the Los Angeles Times and Baltimore magazine. .................... The one-woman musical will take place at 6 tonight at Daedalus Books and Music in Belvedere Square, 5911 York Road.

Excuse her dust -- again. The NAACP's desire to move its headquarters from Baltimore to the nation's capital not only surprised city officials earlier this month, but it also seized the attention of writer Dorothy Parker's admirers. Through an unlikely set of circumstances, Parker's ashes are buried in a memorial garden at the civil rights organization's Northwest Baltimore headquarters. Fans of Parker, the oft-quoted, quintessential New York writer, wondered if she would make the trip to D.C. with the civil rights group.

"Every year, back comes Spring, with nasty little birds yapping their fool heads off and the ground all mucked up with plants." - Dorothy Parker I would rather think of spring as a time of beauty and bargains for the traveler. Here are some spring-oriented offers: In the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, a $339 Shenandoah National Park package that starts this month represents a savings of 22 percent. The Blue Ridge Package includes a two-night stay (Sunday-Thursday) at either Big Meadows Lodge or the historic Skyland Resort, dinner for two both nights in the main dining room of either facility, and breakfast for two both mornings in the dining rooms.

Just before the Civil War, thousands of mule-drawn boats carried coal, lumber and produce along the Delaware Canal in eastern Pennsylvania. Today, mules still pull vessels through the manmade waterway, but the numbers are far fewer, and instead of food and materials, the boats carry tourists. New Hope, about midway on the 60-mile canal that runs parallel to the Delaware River, is the launching point for sightseeing canal-boat trips, which are expected to start operating for the season this month (New Hope Canal Boat Co., 149 S. Main St., 215-862-0578, www. canalboats.

Nancy Kelly of Annapolis, Dorothy Parker of Severna Park and Thomas Pendleton of CroftonVolunteer work: Ms. Kelly, Ms. Parker and Mr. Pendleton are volunteers with the Hospice of the Chesapeake Visiting Friends Program.Nancy Kelly: Ms. Kelly, a county resident for more than 20 years, is a minister of a small, nondenominational church in Annapolis."I entered this ministry wanting to assist people in the spiritual crises that come up at these times. I'm not there as a minister, but as a friend."

"Every year, back comes Spring, with nasty little birds yapping their fool heads off and the ground all mucked up with plants." - Dorothy Parker I would rather think of spring as a time of beauty and bargains for the traveler. Here are some spring-oriented offers: In the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, a $339 Shenandoah National Park package that starts this month represents a savings of 22 percent. The Blue Ridge Package includes a two-night stay (Sunday-Thursday) at either Big Meadows Lodge or the historic Skyland Resort, dinner for two both nights in the main dining room of either facility, and breakfast for two both mornings in the dining rooms.

Perhaps you spotted him at a bar - fellow with a shaved head and arms like a wrestler. What was he up to? If it was Brandon Welch, he was doing what actors, writers and other students of human behavior often do. He was watching, listening, seeking stories, characters. "You can talk about anything with people who don't know you," says Welch. "It's like being in an AA meeting." Welch has been known over the years to wander Baltimore's streets at all hours, stepping from bar to bar to bus station, to anywhere the city's life might reveal itself.

More inside Ann Landers: A mom offers some rules that teachers should follow. [Page 4d] Index Comics 6d Crossword 7d Movies 4d Television 5d SunSpot The Sun on the Internet: http://www.sunspot.net