Seventy-five years ago today, hard-working Robert Charles Benchley died in his hospital room. He was just 56 years old. Benchley, once the country’s premier humorist, had stayed active until the end. In 1933, he began his first radio show, broadcast … Read the rest
The trailer has been released for the new David Fincher-directed film Mank, about Citizen Kane screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz. The movie will come out in theaters in November and on Netflix in December. Mank is only the second biographical … Read the rest
In the most extensive renovation in many decades, the Algonquin Hotel is underway with a major overhaul that has removed the bar, restaurant, front desk, and ceiling. The Round Table is gone, and so is the perch that Hamlet had … Read the rest
Listen to the voices of some of the most popular New York authors of the 1930s, all with a tie to The New Yorker. The all-star radio cast includes Heywood Broun, S.J. Perelman, Dawn Powell, and James Thurber. The … Read the rest
I’ve turned the Algonquin Round Table walking tour into a virtual tour. I supply the tour, you can watch with friends and family, and try out your best wisecracks on each other. Plus we can cover a lot more ground … Read the rest
For those trapped indoors now there is relief coming from 1920: Weekly “Bedtime with the Algonquin Round Table” to be held on live video conference via Zoom, hosted by Kevin C. Fitzpatrick, author of The Algonquin Round Table New York: … Read the rest
When I was compiling the material for my book, The Algonquin Round Table New York: A Historical Guide, I was struck by the group’s versatility. I’d originally believed the group, which met from 1919 to about 1927, was the … Read the rest