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The Algonquin Round Table Lives Again It was the 1920's, an extraordinary time in American literature, an era of sophistication, liberation and unrivalled wit, and at the heart of it, the Algonquin Round Table and The New Yorker. In a tribute to our literary neighbors of West 44th, a series of five programs spotlight some of the leading personalities associated with that time, and surveys their past and present impact on humor and social history. Wednesday, October 15, 2003, 6pm Aviva Slesin, Producer "New York Wits, Comics and Humorists: The Algonquin Round Table" A screening of the Academy Award winning documentary, "The Ten Year Lunch: The Wit and Legend of the Algonquin Round Table" (1 hr) discussed by producer and director Aviva Slesin. The emcee for the evening will be Charles Marti, Actor and Stand-up Comedian. Tuesday, November 4, 2003,6pm Harrison Kinney, Author and Editor "James Thurber: His Life and Times" Harrison Kinney who first met James Thurber in 1948, has written and edited two acclaimed books on Thurber, America's preeminent literary humorist, and the man who refused to join the Round Table. His latest book, The Thurber Letters: The Wit, Wisdom and Surprising Life of James Thurber, which he co-edited with Rosemary Thurber, was described by Kirkus Reviews "as a jackpot of Thurber correspondence-from light entertainments to pure vitriol, with the fascination of an evolutionary timeline. The emcee for the evening will be Charles Marti, Actor and Stand-up Comedian. Tuesday, February 10, 2004, 6pm Thomas Kunkel, Dean, Philip Merrill College of Journalism "Harold Ross: The Square Peg at the Round Table" "How did a tall, gangly, gap-toothed fellow from Colorado become the founding editor of the New Yorker, the nation's most urbane literary magazine? It took some doing and therein lies an irresistible and multifaceted story, one that Kunkel tells with flair" -- Booklist. Pulitzer-nominated biographer of "Genius in Disguise: Harold Ross of the New Yorker", and editor of "Letters from the Editor" examines the role Ross played at the Round Table. Tuesday, March 9, 2004, 6pm Nat Benchley, Actor and Writer "Robert Benchley: Benchley Despite Himself" "A delightful one-man memorial written and performed by Benchley's grandson Nat" - The Washington Post. This short play on drama critic, humorist, actor and screen personality, Robert Benchley, strolls on through the glory period of literate American humor, from post-World War I New York to post-World War II Hollywood. "You get much more out of the theater if you sit facing the stage". -- Robert Benchley Tuesday, April 13, 2004, 6pm Marion Meade, Biographer "Dorothy Parker: What Fresh Hell is This?" Dorothy Parker, queen of the Round Table, was one of the sharpest and darkest wits America ever produced. With her wisecracking verses and stories, she shocked her contemporaries in the twenties and her humor remains legendary eighty years later. Biographer Marion Meade revisits her lively, highly regarded biography to explore what made (and still makes) this funny woman so funny.
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