Bert Leston Taylor

Taylor attended public schools in New York City and excelled at writing, as evidenced by his winning a prize for an original story.

Frustrated from the lack of support from the citizens and local businessmen, he printed the final issue in red ink as a reprisal before leaving town.

He and Emma relocated back east and bought a home in Cos Cob (Greenwich) Connecticut while their daughter, Alva, attended Harvard.

The brand of journalism Taylor used and improved upon began in 1883 by Eugene Field with his "Sharps and Flats" column in the Chicago Daily News, , and later in 1895 by Tribune writer Henry "Butch" White.

He arranged his column as a mélange of whimsical paragraphs, amusing excerpts from rural papers, and light verse interspersed with submissions from outside contributors; indeed, it was considered an honor to be selected for the "Line".

He also took meticulous care of the column's editing and layout, correcting all typographical and grammatical errors as well as orchestrating the flow of elements: the upper half of the column contained whimsical philosophy in the form of essay and light verse, followed by pure humorous pieces in the lower half poking fun at the "so-called human race".

Taylor was celebrated in his day as one of great American humorists and critics likened him to Josh Billings, Eli Perkins, and Mark Twain.

At the height of his celebrity, Taylor was one of the invited guests at Mark Twain’s seventieth birthday held at Monico's in New York City on December 5, 1905.

Novelist Henry Kitchell Webster considered Taylor to be among the great letter-writers of the world and classed him with Thomas Gray and British author Edward FitzGerald.

Taylor’s wit was not a savage but it often had a bite, and he possessed a keen sense of language and technical skill using rhythmical structures to frame his thought.

The group mimicked the story in that it disappeared and reappeared on Friday afternoons at such places as Chicago’s Auditorium Hotel (now occupied by Roosevelt University) and Fine Arts Building.

Taylor was an outdoor enthusiast, and his favorite track of wilderness was the Grand Marais area of northern Minnesota, located north of Duluth on the Canada–US border, where he enjoyed going on expeditions with his wife and close friends.

Ponce de Leon, or the Fountain of Youth; Libretto by Bert Leston Taylor and music by Walter H. Lewis (1900) - Romantic opera comedy.

Performed in Manchester, New Hampshire April 24 and 25, 1900, the opera contains twenty-seven musical numbers including solos, duets, and trios.

– The work parodied Elbert Green Hubbard's Philistine: A Periodical of Protest independently published by his Roycrofters Press of East Aurora, New York.

Gustav Luders was originally contracted to compose the music to Taylor’s libretto but fell behind schedule due to an extensive honeymoon with his wife in Europe.

Walter Lewis replaced Luders, and the opera opened June 30 at the Dearborn Theatre in Chicago on one of the hottest nights of the summer season – the inside temperatures were reported at being 100 degrees.

Line-o'-Type Lyrics; published by William S. Lord (1902) – Humorous verse and parodies that has been compared with Bret Harte, Thomas Hood, and Charles Stuart Calverley.

[5] Monsieur d'En Brochette,[6] Being an Historical Account of Some of the Adventures of Huevos Pasada Par Agua, Marquis of Pollio Grille, Count of Pate de Foie Gras, and Much Else Besides; published by Keppler & Schwarzmann (1905) – Co-authored with Arthur Hamilton Folwell and John Kendrick Bangs, the latter being an editor for Puck.

The Log of the Water Wagon; Or, The Cruise of the Good Ship Lithia; published by H.M. Caldwell Company (1905) – Co-authored with William Curtis Gibson and with illustrations by L.M.

The plot concerns a Wisconsin farm girl, named Hope Winston, who possesses natural musical genius and comes to Chicago to perfect her craft.

Taylor invents villain Rudolph Erdmann and his prestigious "Colossus Conservatory of Music", where he dupes young, aspiring musicians, regardless of talent, solely for their money.

[7] Campi golfarii Romae Antiqvae (The Links of Ancient Rome);[8] published privately by the “Brothers of the Book Miscellanea” (1912) – Humorous verse about golf.

Payson Wild was a classical scholar and one of Taylor's favorite contributors to the “Line.” The Pipesmoke Carry;[9] published by Reilly & Britton Co. (1912) – Decorations (illustrations) by C.B.

The term "carry" in the title refers to portage, and "pipesmoke" is "a certain tobacco known by men of the forest, that when burned summons memories of days frantic of wind and rain, days of long excursions, filled with the odor of balsam and sun burned grass, little adventures, rare acquaintances made by chance.” The Cliff Dwellers; In Memory of Bert Leston Taylor (B.L.T.

Hill under the auspices of the Cliff Dwellers and the Chicago Tribune (1922) – A program and records of Taylor's memorial service held in the Blackstone Theater on March 27, 1921.

Among the Babette Ballads, the poem "The Horoscope" references "Zariel, the Astrologer", who represents Taylor’s long-time friend and collaborator, Walter Lewis.

Tiffany Blake commented that Taylor used the same genius in writing this whimsical children story as displayed in making the "Line" different than any other newspaper column in history.

He touched upon many subjects: the philosophies of Hardy, Thoreau, and Yeats; of Orion hanging low in the west; of saxifrage, anemone and trillium; and of Brahms, Mansfield Park, election night, good furniture, and the trivialities of existence.

"The Car Window", another section, is a series describing Taylor's trip through the West and Canada on his way to San Diego in 1919, where he worked briefly for The Union.