born Aug. 19, 1902, Rye, N.Y., U.S.
died May 19, 1971, Baltimore, Md.
U.S. writer of humorous poetry.
Nash sold his first verse in 1930 to The New Yorker , on whose staff he worked. In 1931 he published Hard Lines , the first of 20 collections that include The Bad Parents' Garden of Verse (1936), I'm a Stranger Here Myself (1938), and Everyone but Thee and Me (1962). His audacious, quotable verse employs delightfully impossible rhymes, puns, and ragged stanzas, often interrupted by digressions. He wrote several children's books and the lyrics for the musicals One Touch of Venus (1943) and Two's Company (1952).