born Dec. 8, 1894, Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
died Nov. 2, 1961, New York, N.Y.
U.S. writer and cartoonist.
He attended Ohio State University before moving to New York City in 1926. He was on The New Yorker staff from 1927 to 1933 and thereafter remained a leading contributor. His drawings illustrated his first book, Is Sex Necessary? (1929; with E.B. White ), and his cartoons became some of the most popular and recognizable in America. In 1940 his failing eyesight forced him to curtail his drawing; by 1952 he had to give it up altogether as his blindness became nearly total. His writings include My Life and Hard Times (1933), Fables for Our Time (1940), and the children's book The 13 Clocks (1950). He is noted for his vision of the befuddled urban man who, like the hero of his short story "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" (1939; film, 1946), escapes into fantasy.