The Real Dope

Ringgold Wilmer Lardner (1885-1933) was an American sports columnist and short story writer best known for his satirical takes on the sports world, marriage, and the theatre. Born in Niles, Michigan, from adolescence Lardner's ambition was to become a sports reporter, an ambition he fulfilled in 1907 by getting a position on the Chicago Inter-Ocean. He was editor of The Sporting News in St. Louis in 1910 and 1911. In 1916 Lardner published his first successful book, You Know Me Al (1916). Like most of Lardner's stories, You Know Me Al employed satire to show the stupidity and cupidity of a certain type of athlete. Lardner went on to write such well-known stories as Haircut (1954), Some Like Them Cold, The Golden Honeymoon, Alibi Ike, and A Day in the Life of Conrad Green. Lardner also had a lifelong fascination with the theatre, though his only success was June Moon (1929), a comedy co-written with Broadway veteran George S. Kaufman.