Round Table Author Kevin Fitzpatrick Named Final Judge of 2009 Benchley Writing Contest

Kevin C. Fitzpatrick Kevin has been a past judge of the competition. He is the president of the RBS Fascinating Crimes chapter in New York. In 1999 he founded the Dorothy Parker Society and serves as president. He is the author of "A Journey into Dorothy Parker's New York" and with Nat Benchley, is the co-editor of the new book "The Lost Algonquin Round Table" (Donald Books-iUniverse).

Link for the book: http://www.donaldbooks.com/catalogue.html

Semi-Finalists Announced in RBS Humor Competition

The Robert Benchley Society Announces the Semi-Finalists (in alphabetical order) in the 2009 Robert Benchley Society Humor Award Competition:

• Con Chapman of Weston, Mass. for Foundations of Western Logic
  
• L.J. Diehl of Sterling Heights, Mich. for A Guide to Parenting in the 21st Century
  
• Brenda Pontiff of Los Angeles, Calif. for A Teensy Weensy Renaissance
  
• Felice Prager of Scottsdale, Arizona for How to Kill a Scorpion
  
• Laura Pryor of Clarkston, Mich. for Starbucks Amuck
  
• B. Elwin Sherman of Bethlehem, N.H. for A Woman At Home
  
• Ed Tasca of Toronto, Ontario for Let’s Click Up the Old Gang Sometime
  
• Mike Tuck of Eden Prairie, Minn. for Name That Landmark
  
• Carl Vine of Johnstown, Ohio for Simple Instructions for Completing Any Tax Form
  
• George Waters of Pasadena, Calif. for How to Build a Gate

Preliminary Judges of RBS Competition Complete Work

The preliminary judges of the 2009 Robert Benchley Society Humor Award Competition have completed their work of choosing the top ten out of 46 entries received. This year's judges were:

• Author of Robert Benchley An Annotated Bibliography, Gordon E. Ernst
  
• Writer and RBS Director, Eileen Forster Keck;
  
• puzzle designer RBS Vice Chairman, Chris Morgan;
  
• 2007 RBS Humor Award winner, Daniel Montville;
  
• Radio personality and chairman of A Moderate State of Preservation Chapter (Ann Arbor, Mich.) of RBS, Tom Saunders;
  
• RBS Director Pamela Siska and
  
• Robert Benchley Society Chairman David Trumbull

.The RBS regrets that judging of this years competition is running a bit behind schedule as the Society President has been in Washington, D.C. lobbying the Obama Administration of stimulus money for the nation's vital humor industry.

What ho, members of The Wodehouse Society!

The all-online registration system is now available for "A Little Wodehouse on the Prairie," the Wodehouse Society convention coming up in St. Paul on 12-14 June. From http://northwodes.org/ , click on
"On-line Convention Registration" -- http://northwodes.org/convention/bonafides.asp to start the process.

The "Schedule of Events" http://northwodes.org/convention/events.asp is also available in a bit more detail than as published in "Plum
Lines;" more info is being added daily.

Convention highlights you won't want to miss:

Wodehouse songs performed by soprano Maria Jette and pianist Dan Chouinard

Near-professional level, quasi-official quasi-Cricket Event

Riveting talks by International Experts

Costume contest and riverboat cruise, serenaded by the Barbary Coast Banjo Band

An Afternoon at the Races

Performances by the Chicago Accident Syndicate as well as the Northwodes

-Luxurious accommodations at the historic Saint Paul Hotel

2009 Benchley Humor Competition Entries Due April 1st

Entries for the 2009 Robert Benchley Society Humor Award Competition are due by April 1, 2009. Enter on the Robert Benchley Society website competition page at http://www.robertbenchley.org/competition/index.htm. The winners will be announced the summer.

And be sure to save the dates of October 9-12, 2009 for the Seventh Annual Gathering and Awards Dinner of the Robert Benchley Society. This year the event will be in Boston, Massachusetts.

FREE Martinis ... at the Algonquin at GLIMPSES OF THE MOON

GLIMPSES OF THE MOON is fun and romantic--perfect for a date or a celebration with friends!

FREE Martinis before the show

For tickets call 866.468.7619 or www.TICKETWEB.com

FREE Ticket-- if you bring 3 friends. (this Monday only) Mention codeFREEmoon.
.
"It plays only on Monday nights but elicits a Sunday kind of love." -- John Simon, Bloomberg.com


"You'll leave with dreams in your heart and stars in your eyes." --Stage & Cinema

www.glimpsesofthemoon.com

John Updike and Robert Benchley

In 1997, John Updike wrote a book review for The New Yorker of Laughter’s Gentle Soul: The Life of Robert Benchley by Billy Altman. I had the distinct honor of being contacted by The New Yorker to verify some facts in Updike’s review. It is obvious that Updike was a fan of Benchley’s work. He says: “I was a keen consumer of popular culture when Benchley was a part of it. I sat in the local theatre and laughed at “The Courtship of the Newt” and “How to Take a Vacation”; I read through his collections—“20,000 Leagues under the Sea or David Copperfield,” “From Bed to Worse or Comforting Thoughts About the Bison”—marvelling at their impudence; I would have even stayed up to listen to his ten-o’clock-Sunday-night radio program, “Melody and Madness,” if my parents had let me.”

Updike’s full review may be found in the April 7, 1997 issue of The New Yorker, v. 73, issue 7, pp 88-94.

--Submitted by RBS Director, Gordon Ernst