FRANK SULLIVAN 9/22/1892 - 2/19/1976

From 1924 to 1931, Frank Sullivan was a humorist for the New York World.

He was born in Saratoga Springs, New York.  He reported part-time for the Saratogian while in High School, then in 1914 he graduated with an A.B. from Cornell University and returned to work for the Saratogian, where he worked until he was drafted in 1917.  Upon his discharge Sullivan moved to New York and first worked for the Herald, then the Sun, and finally in 1922 the World.  Here he began as a reporter/feature writer.  He briefly did a news column, but his editor, Herbert Bayard Swope, saw his unusual talent for humor and made him a columnist in 1924.

As a humorist, Sullivan was known for his gentle touch and for the collection of fictitious characters as created: Aunt Sally Gallup, Martha Hepplethwaite, the Forgotten Bach (a member of the Bach family who was tone deaf),  and Mr. Arbuthnot, the cliché expert. Sullivan wrote his column until the World closed down in 1931, but he had also been writing humor articles for the New Yorker since 1926 and continued to do so until the 1950's.  He was also one of the celebrated Algonquin Round Table wits.  A lifelong bachelor, Sullivan returned to his childhood home in Saratoga Springs in the 1960's and lived there until his death in 1976.  He also contributed to Harper's, Atlantic Monthly, Good Housekeeping, and other magazines and published a dozen humor books.

List of Frank Sullivan's works  Quotes Guide to the Frank Sullivan Collection, Cornell

Excepts from Frank Sullivan at his Best

Original letters and documents can be found at the Saratoga Springs History Museum Canfield Casino Historical Society in Congress Park Saratoga Springs, NY.  The index to the archives is currently being built.  If approved, it will be available online for search purposes. 

Chronology

Frank grew up at 177 Lincoln, Saratoga Springs, NY.

135 Lincoln where he lived in later years.

Five Points Grocery store  he where shopped.

     

         

His works: