Will Cuppy
William Jacob Cuppy (August 23, 1884 – September 19, 1949) was an American humorist and literary critic, known for his satirical books about nature and historical figures.
Early life[edit]
Cuppy was born in Auburn, Indiana. He was named "Will" in memory of an older brother of his father's who died of wounds he received as a Union officer at the Civil War Battle of Fort Donelson.[1][2] Cuppy's father, Thomas Jefferson Cuppy (1844–1912), was at different times a grain dealer, a seller of farm implements and a lumber buyer for the Eel River branch of the Wabash Railroad. His mother, Frances Stahl Cuppy (1855–1927), was a seamstress and worked in a small shop located next to the family home in Auburn.[3] Young Cuppy spent summers at a farm belonging to his grandmother, Sarah Collins Cuppy (1813–1900), on the banks of the Eel River near South Whitley, Indiana. He later said that this was where he acquired his early knowledge of the natural world which he satirized in his writings.[4]
Cuppy graduated from Auburn High School in 1902 and went on to the University of Chicago, where he received a bachelor's degree in 1907. As an undergraduate, he belonged to Phi Gamma Delta, acted in amateur theater and worked as campus reporter for several Chicago newspapers, notably the Record Herald and the Daily News. He lingered at Chicago seven more years as a graduate student in English literature. He did not show much interest in his studies, but in 1910 produced his first book, Maroon Tales, a collection of short stories about university life. In 1914 he pulled together a short master's thesis,[5] took his degree and left for New York.
Will Cuppy
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Iranian controversy[edit]
A Persian translation by Najaf Daryabandari of Cuppy's The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody was published in 1972 under the title of Čenin konand bozorgān (چنین کنند بزرگان, Thus Act the Great).[28] The good quality of the Persian prose and the fact of Cuppy's being unknown in Iran led to speculation that the book was not a translation, but an original book by Daryabandari and possibly a collaborator, who was speculated to be Ahmad Shamlou. It was guessed that this had been done in order to bypass the Pahlavi era censor. Daryabandari denied it several times, even after the Iranian Revolution. The issue was not publicly settled until the satire magazine Golagha ran an article about their "discovery" of Cuppy, which proved Daryabandari right.
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Cuppy documents[edit]
Cuppy's papers, including thousands of his notecards, are archived at the University of Chicago Library.[22] A number of his letters to his friend and Herald Tribune colleague Isabel Paterson are among Paterson's papers archived at the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum in West Branch, Iowa. [23] Two of Cuppy's letters to Max Eastman are among Eastman's papers at Indiana University's Lilly Library.[24] The Frank Sullivan Collection at Cornell University also contains correspondence from Cuppy.[25] The papers of John Towner Frederick at the University of Iowa include letters written by Cuppy in the 1940s relating to Frederick's Of Men and Books series for CBS Radio.[26] Four letters from Cuppy to children's author Anne Carroll Moore are among her papers at the New York Public Library[27]
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