James Thurber

Author profile

born

December 08, 1894 in Columbus, Ohio, The United States

died

November 02, 1961

gender

male

genre

Literature & Fiction, Humor

About this author

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Thurber was born in Columbus, Ohio to Charles L. Thurber and Mary Agnes (Mame) Fisher Thurber. Both of his parents greatly influenced his work. His father, a sporadically employed clerk and minor politician who dreamed of being a lawyer or an actor, is said to have been the inspiration for the small, timid protagonist typical of many of his stories. Thurber described his mother as a "born comedienne" and "one of the finest comic talents I think I have ever known." She was a practical joker, on one occasion pretending to be crippled and attending a faith healer revival, only to jump up and proclaim herself healed.

Thurber had two brothers, William and Robert. Once, while playing a game of William Tell, his brother William shot James in the ey...more Thurber was born in Columbus, Ohio to Charles L. Thurber and Mary Agnes (Mame) Fisher Thurber. Both of his parents greatly influenced his work. His father, a sporadically employed clerk and minor politician who dreamed of being a lawyer or an actor, is said to have been the inspiration for the small, timid protagonist typical of many of his stories. Thurber described his mother as a "born comedienne" and "one of the finest comic talents I think I have ever known." She was a practical joker, on one occasion pretending to be crippled and attending a faith healer revival, only to jump up and proclaim herself healed.

Thurber had two brothers, William and Robert. Once, while playing a game of William Tell, his brother William shot James in the eye with an arrow. Because of the lack of medical technology, Thurber lost his eye. This injury would later cause him to be almost entirely blind. During his childhood he was unable to participate in sports and activities because of his injury, and instead developed a creative imagination, which he shared in his writings.

From 1913 to 1918, Thurber attended The Ohio State University, where he was a member of the Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity. He never graduated from the University because his poor eyesight prevented him from taking a mandatory ROTC course. In 1995 he was posthumously awarded a degree.

From 1918 to 1920, at the close of World War I, Thurber worked as a code clerk for the Department of State, first in Washington, D.C. and then at the American Embassy in Paris, France. After this Thurber returned to Columbus, where he began his writing career as a reporter for the Columbus Dispatch from 1921 to 1924. During part of this time, he reviewed current books, films, and plays in a weekly column called "Credos and Curios," a title that later would be given to a posthumous collection of his work. Thurber also returned to Paris in this period, where he wrote for the Chicago Tribune and other newspapers.

In 1925, he moved to Greenwich Village in New York City, getting a job as a reporter for the New York Evening Post. He joined the staff of The New Yorker in 1927 as an editor with the help of his friend and fellow New Yorker contributor, E.B. White. His career as a cartoonist began in 1930 when White found some of Thurber's drawings in a trash can and submitted them for publication. Thurber would contribute both his writings and his drawings to The New Yorker until the 1950s.

Thurber was married twice. In 1922, Thurber married Althea Adams. The marriage was troubled and ended in divorce in May 1935. Adams gave Thurber his only child, his daughter Rosemary. Thurber remarried in June, 1935 to Helen Wismer. His second marriage lasted until he died in 1961, at the age of 66, due to complications from pneumonia, which followed upon a stroke suffered at his home. His last words, aside from the repeated word "God," were "God bless... God damn," according to Helen Thurber.
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Books by James Thurber

Average rating: 4.07 · 8,642 ratings · 985 reviews · 109 distinct works

	My Life and Hard Times 4.17 avg rating — 1,130 ratings — published 1933 — 10 editions	My rating:
	The 13 Clocks by James Thurber, Marc Simont (Illustrator) 4.11 avg rating — 1,581 ratings — published 1950 — 16 editions	My rating:
	The Thurber Carnival by James Thurber, Michael J. Rosen (Goodreads Author) (Commentaries by) 4.26 avg rating — 1,072 ratings — published 1945 — 12 editions	My rating:
	Many Moons by James Thurber, Louis Slobodkin (Illustrator) 4.12 avg rating — 1,074 ratings — published 1943 — 12 editions	My rating:
	The Secret Life of Walter Mitty and Other Pieces 3.93 avg rating — 600 ratings — published 1964	My rating:
	The Wonderful O 3.90 avg rating — 374 ratings — published 1902 — 6 editions	My rating:
	Is Sex Necessary?, or Why You Feel the Way You Do by James Thurber, E.B. White, John Updike (Foreword) 3.64 avg rating — 274 ratings — published 1929 — 11 editions	My rating:
	The Secret Life of Walter Mitty 3.63 avg rating — 255 ratings — published 1996 — 4 editions	My rating:
	My World And Welcome To It 4.25 avg rating — 206 ratings — published 1942 — 9 editions	My rating:
	The Years with Ross 4.08 avg rating — 176 ratings — published 1959 — 8 editions	My rating:

More books by James Thurber…

Series by James Thurber

Vintage Thurber (2 books)
by James Thurber

4.13 avg rating — 8 ratings

Quotes by James Thurber

“All human beings should try to learn before they die what they are running from, and to, and why.”
― James Thurber

tags: aphorism , inspirational

75 people liked it

“Why do you have to be a nonconformist like everybody else?”
― James Thurber

64 people liked it

“It is better to know some of the questions than all of the answers.”
― James Thurber

45 people liked it

See all James Thurber's quotes »

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