A Side of Slaw and a Couple of Beers . . .

While the bronze plaque outside the building does not mention his name (among Faulkner, Thurber, and others), today marks the 50th anniversary of Preston Sturges's death at the Algonquin Hotel in New York. Working on his autobiography (later published as Sturges on Sturges), he had paused to order cole slaw and a couple of beers from room service, consumed same, complained to his secretary of indigestion, and keeled.

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