Word: ringed
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Lardner, in short, was a newspaper man with all the mythical implications the term implies--he smoked heavily, drank constantly and loved sitting in the press box at baseball games. And it seems appropriate that Yardley should end Ring with Fitzgerald's epitaph...
...Ring" has a sad ending, but still we are left remembering him as a man who succeeded in entertaining millions of Americans, and even more, as a man who loved his work. Despite his feelings of failure, we feel he must have had a true appreciation for America in a patriotic sense, because it would otherwise have been impossible to produce the great quantity of humor and parodies in such a short lifetime...
...Ring, Yardley has attempted to portray Lardner largely through his work. He offers comments which are essential to providing an understanding of the era. Also included, however, is a section on Lardner's courtship with his future wife, Ellis. Because Lardner was traveling with the White Sox throughout his courtship, he and Ellis rarely saw one another. They wrote each other constantly, however, and the letters reveal Ring's charm and innocence. At a later point in their relationship, Ring has been looking for an apartment for the soon to be married couple. He writes Ellis, describing a place...
...LETTERS are the only original source materials Yardley has access to, besides the conversations with Ring's friends which Donald Elder provided in the only other Lardner biography in existence. Ring, if it misses anything, is lacking in any real insights into Lardner's personality. Yet Yardley can hardly be faulted for this, because all of Ring's friends are long gone. One is left wondering, for instance, why Lardner projected such a severe image, as revealed by many of the pictures Yardley has gathered of him. Lardner never looks happy, and Yardley mentions one factor which may have contributed...
...great and good American is dead, let us not obscure him by the flowers, but walk up and look at that fine medallion, all torn by sorrow that perhaps we are not equipped to understand. Ring made no enemies, because he was kind, and to millions he gave release and delight...