Gelett Burgess(1866-1951)
- Writer
Boston-born (1866) humorist Gelett Burgess graduated from the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1887, and secured employment
as a draftsman for the Southern Pacific Railroad. Three years later he
became an instructor in topographical drawing at the University of
California. In 1894, however, he made an almost complete 180-degree
change from the staid, stable work of drafting and technical drawing to
become editor of the humor magazine "Wave" and the next year he became
editor of "Lark", a quirky, edgy (for the times) humor magazine. It was
there that his famous quatrain--often wrongly attributed to
Ogden Nash--"The Purple Cows" appeared: "I
never saw a purple cow / I never hope to see one / But I can tell you
anyhow / I'd rather see than be one". The magazine also featured his
drawings of bizarre, badly behaving creatures called "Goops", which
caught on with the public. He wrote a series of books filled with his
humorous observations on life in general and the battle of the sexes.
He died in Carmel, California, on September 18, 1951.
He died in Carmel, California, on September 18, 1951.
