What Would You Get for James Thurber's Birthday?

James Thurber lived in New York City's Greenwich Village on Horatio Street near Ninth Avenue. He even wrote a poem called “Villanelle of Horatio Street, Manhattan,” published in the February 26, 1927 issue of The New Yorker. December 8 is his birthday.

James Thurber, Digital ID TH-57960, New York Public Library

 

A sampling of Thurber’s wit:

You can fool too many of the people too much of the time.

Now I am not a cat man, but a dog man, and all felines can tell this at a glance — a sharp, vindictive glance.

It is better to ask some of the questions than to know all the answers.

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Thurber's Gift From Me

I'd read him Memorial (to a dog). He'd cry; I'd cry. Then the party would begin.