Join the Boston Chapter of the RBS for Cocktails at the Harvard Club Thursday

The Boston "We've Come for the Davenport" Chapter of the Robert Benchley Society will hold its monthly Roundup at the Downtown Harvard Club, high above Boston town on the 38th floor of One Federal Street, in the Financial District. We'll gather at the Crimson Pub on Thursday, February 21st, beginning at 5:30 p.m.
We'll be well into the first full week of Lent; nevertheless, the Club will be offering a Mardi Gras-themed evening with:

• Aged Cheddar Cheese Spread with Crackers,
• Vegetable Crudités,
• Cajun Deviled Eggs,
• Crab Florentine Stuffed Mushrooms,
• Bayou Fried Shrimp with Cajun Remoulade,
• Chicken and Andouille Sausage Gumbo, and
• Muffuletta Sliders.

Dress code is informal or business casual. For more information, contact David Trumbull at david@robertbenchley.org.

2013 NSNC Conference: Lifestyles and the Writing Life

The National Society of Newspaper Columnists (NSNC) will hold its annual Conference in Hartford, CT, June 27 - 30, 2013 at the Hartford Hilton. Registration is now open, as is the annual writing contest. Click here for details: 2013 NSNC Conference

The entire NSNC Board of Directors nominated a Program Committee and has worked diligently, since the untimely death of its president, Larry Cohen, and a few other mishaps, to pull this exciting conference together. Many impressive headliners will be there, including Dave Barry, who is being honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award; original SNL writer, Thurber Prize winner and co-author of Lunatics, Alan Zweibel; popular public speaker and author of a hilarious new book It's Not That I’m Bitter, Gina Barreca; and many others.

There are still sponsorship opportunities open! If you are interested, please contact the NSNC Executive Director (director@columnists.com). The publicity will be amazing.

Who can register?
The NSNC says "If you’re reading this, you are. Whether you write for newspapers, magazines, newsletters, trade journals or other periodicals or for radio or video … whether you’re on staff, a freelancer, syndicated, self-syndicated or independent. We heartily encourage online and multimedia columnists, bloggers and similar Web reporters, commentators, analysts, humorists and essayists. We welcome retired or former columnists, journalism scholars and collegian columnists. And all those who want to write columns or blogs… And your guests!”

Benchley 1914 Piece Uncovered

Sept. 9, 1914, New York Tribune, "The Conning Tower"

Thanks to independent historian Stuart Y. Silverstein of Los Angeles and Chicago, the editor of Not Much Fun, the Lost Poems of Dorothy Parker, we can now read something Robert Benchley wrote in 1914 for "The Conning Tower" of the New York Tribune. Benchley was just two years out of Harvard, and the Algonquin Round Table was five years off on the horizon.

The piece, "Blank Form To Be Handed to Returning Tourists," was submitted to the editor of the column, Benchley's mentor, Franklin P. Adams. As all "contribs" to "The Conning Tower" it was signed with Benchley's initials, not his byline. It ran Sept. 9, 1914. Mr. Silverstein says, "Note that it refers to the First World War - which started July 28, 1914 - just 6 weeks earlier. This item appeared less than a week before Benchley's 25th birthday."

Thanks, Mr. Silverstein, for digging up what we believe is the first appearance of Benchley in a New York newspaper, and sharing it with us.

(If the image is hard to read, here is a transcription)

Blank Form To Be Handed to Returning Tourists

Please fill in blanks and return with photograph showing yourself with mouth open.

The first inkling I had of the war was in _____. I was with my _____ (and my _____) at the time, and we had just come from a delightful trip through _____. One evening, the _____th of _____, we heard _____ and I said to our _____friend--, "_____?" He replied: "_____!" Immediately the streets were thronged with enthusiastic _____, all singing "_____." We had time only to get our _____ and stand _____ hours in the station for the train to _____. We were grossly insulted on the border by a _____ who insisted on _____. On reaching _____ we had to stand like cattle before the _____ left for _____. I tell you, the old Statue of Liberty looked pretty good to me. I don't know, of course, but take it from me, the war won't be over until one side is victorious and that won't be for _____.

R. C. B. 

Boston Benchleyites to Meet Thursday, February 21st, at Downtown Harvard Club

The Boston "We've Come for the Davenport" Chapter of the Robert Benchley Society will hold its monthly Roundup at the Downtown Harvard Club, high above Boston town on the 38th floor of One Federal Street, in the Financial District. We'll gather at the Crimson Pub on Thursday, February 21st, beginning at 5:30 p.m.
We'll be well into the first full week of Lent; nevertheless, the Club will be offering a Mardi Gras-themed evening with:

• Aged Cheddar Cheese Spread with Crackers,
• Vegetable Crudités,
• Cajun Deviled Eggs,
• Crab Florentine Stuffed Mushrooms,
• Bayou Fried Shrimp with Cajun Remoulade,
• Chicken and Andouille Sausage Gumbo, and
• Muffuletta Sliders.

Dress code is informal or business casual. For more information, contact David Trumbull at david@robertbenchley.org.