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.

2013 Thurber Prize for American Humor Submissions are now being accepted!

A new year means a new Thurber Prize for American Humor, and from now until April 1, Thurber House will be accepting submissions for the 2013 prize! Books published in the U.S. in 2012 are eligible. Entry guidelines, rules, and application forms are available on our website. The winner receives $5,000, a commemorative plaque, and is invited to be a guest at a special ticketed event in Columbus, Ohio the following year.

The judges for the 2013 prize are Laurie Notaro, two-time Thurber Prize for American Humor finalist; Nate DiMeo, 2012 Thurber Prize for American Humor finalist; and Lisa Birnbach, co-author of The Official Preppy Handbook and True Prep: It’s a Whole New Old World. The winner will be announced at an event at Caroline's Comedy Club on Broadway in New York City on September 30, 2013.
Past winners include Calvin Trillin, David Rakoff, Christopher Buckley, David Sedaris, and others.

Entries must be submitted no later than Monday, April 1, 2013. Visit their website (http://thurberhouse.org/thurber-prize-for-american-humor.html) for more information and to download the entry guidelines and the application!

Proposed New Yorker Benchley/Parker Tribute

Dear David,

Hi, I'm an entrant in the New Yorker Eustace Tilley contest and my entry is a playful tribute to Robert Benchley & Mrs. Parker.

It's currently posted at the New Yorker website. I doubt if I'll win, but I wanted to see Sweet Old Bob represented at his magazine! Regards,

Eileen Mitchell

http://www.newyorker.com/online/photocontests/eustace_tilley_2013/entry537501244?previousId=537501481.

Sounds like something to highlight on a resumé: Bilingually deficient.

Carol C. of Los Angeles sent me this message last evening:

In checking out the chapters of the Robert Benchley Society, I came across the Los Angeles Chapter. On the RBS website, this fifth chapter is called “e-p-i-s-l-o-n,” which sounds like “He pissed on.” I’m pretty sure it’s supposed to say “epsilon.” Spell check keeps confirming this; every time I try to type “e-p-i-s-l-o-n” it corrects it. That’s why I have to write it with dashes in it
Check it out:
http://www.robertbenchley.org/rbs/chapters.htm.

Bad enough that I am dyslexic; now she informs me that I am dyslexic in Greek as well as English! However, who would not have trouble with Greek, a tongue that says "nay" for "yes" and "okay" for "no." --David T.

Boston RBS Life Drawing Event Set for January 18th

The Boston "We've Come for the Davenport" Chapter of the Robert Benchley Society has planned a January event: "Barefoot up to Her Chin," the name of our next life drawing session, is taken from the title of H. Allen Smith's interview with Sally Rand. Smith, a newspaperman and humorist of the mid-20th century, was a friend and great admirer of Robert Benchley.
We'll have food delivered at six and start drawing at seven. As in the past, we'll supply the food, drinks, and art supplies. Cost will be $25 for Robert Benchley Society members and $30 for non-members. Skilled artists are welcome, but the event is directed toward beginners. Write-ups of past life drawing events are available at www.trumbullofboston.blogspot.com. For more information, mail David at david@robertbenchley.org.

Just in Time for the New Year...

...the Robert Benchley Society announces that our Commemorative Tenth Anniversary Edition of Love Conquers All is available for purchase on Create Space and at Amazon. (If you buy using the Amazon link, be sure to buy from Amazon to get this commemorative edition. Other resellers on Amazon offer Love Conquers All in other editions lacking our valuable additional materials.)
Originally published in 1922 by Henry Holt and Company, this volume contains 63 Benchley essays, previously published in Life, The New York World, The New York Tribune, The Detroit Athletic Club News, and The Consolidated Press Association. The illustrations by Gluyas Williams are also from the 1922 edition.
The RBS 10th Anniversary Edition features a new forward written for the Society by humorist Bob Newhart, an introduction by Society chairman, David Trumbull, and a thoughtful essay on Benchley's humor style and influence by Ed Tasca.
That's not all. This volume has the essays by the first place winners of the Society's annual humor-writing competitions:
W. Bruce Cameron, Horace Digby, Tim French, Madeleine Begun Kane, Daniel Montville, and Mike Tuck.
Humorists Dave Barry, Arte Johnson, and Mark Russell also contributed material in this edition, which is "must have" item for any fan of witty humor in the Benchley mode.

Published by award-winning Glendower Media.

Robert Benchey Society's Boston Christmas Party

The "We've Come for the Davenport" Boston Chapter of the Robert Benchley Society met for Christmas cocktails at the Harvard Club of Boston on Thursday, December 20, 2012. This was the inaugural of the Chapter's new arrangement to have a Benchley Roundup at the Harvard Club of Boston every third Thursday of the month. For more information contact David Trumbull at david@robertbenchley.org.