Dorothy Parker

Dorothy Parker is one of whose name that I heard a number of times, but I know nothing really about Dottie Dear.

Dorothy Parker

The predominant image of Dorothy Parker is life of the party, fashionable, wisecrack, and probably provocative for her time (1893-1967). She published her first volume of poetry in 1926 (Enough Rope) and The Nation called it “caked with a salty humor, rough with splinters of disillusion, and tarred with a bright black authenticity.”

Dorothy was née Rothschild, but despite the wealthy family name, her childhood was anything but a piece of cake. Her mother died, when Dorothy was very young, and Dorothy grew up to resent her father and stepmother. She sold her first poem to Vanity Fair in 1914 and worked with both Vogue and Vanity Fair. She was a founding member of Algonquin Round Table and became known for her sharp wit.

She relocated to Hollywood and worked on a number of movies there, but her political involvement in civil rights caused her head wind. The FBI allegedly had a 1000 page dossier on her regarding her communist affiliations, but no legal action was taken against her. Dorothy Parker was ardent in her beliefs and bequeathed her estate to Martin Luther King.

Dorothy Parker’s life and witticism definitely merit a closer look.

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