The Billboard Industry Lashes Back

Joyce Kilmer* reported:

I think I shall never see
A poem as lovely as a tree...

Nash retorted:

I think that I shall never see
A billboard lovely as a tree
Indeed, unless the billboards fall,
I'll never see a tree at all.

David Flint of Turner Advertising snorted:

Ogden Nash may never have seen
A billboard he held dear
But neither did he see a tree
Grossing 20 grand a year

Shameless. But I think Nash would have laughed along with him.


*I can see the spot where Joyce Kilmer taught school from my office window. Earth shattering I know. One of Nash's favorite poets, Dorothy Parker, also went to school within shouting distance of here...Hmmm...better alert the media.

Sub-Prime Sage

Some debts are fun when you are acquiring them,
But none are fun when you set about retiring them.

Ogden Nash

Lost Nash Classic

Ogden Nash was born in Rye.
Is it any wonder that his Rhymes are so dry?

For example, a delightful lost* Nash poem on some women's preoccupation with the scale (o.k. make that all women):

Curl Up and Diet

Some ladies smoke too much and some ladies drink too much and some ladies pray too much,

But all ladies think that they weigh too much.

They may be as slender as a sylph or a dryad,

But just let them get on the scales and they embark on a doleful jeremiad;

No matter how low the figure the needle happens to touch,

They always claim it is at least five pounds too much;

No matter how underfed to you a lady’s anatomy seemeth,

She describes herself as Leviathan or Behemoth;

So then their goal would be to look like somebody’s fourteen-year-old

Brothers ghost, or rather not the ghost itself, which is fairly solid, but a silhouette of it,

So I think it is very nice for ladies to be lithe and lissome

But not so much so that you cut yourself if you happen to embrace or kissome.

Quintessential Ogden. From the dark humor laced title, to the timeless, humor coated, searing social commentary, to the whimsical closing rhyme.

Thanks to Dave Wood for his recent review of 'Secret Ingredients', a compilation of New Yorker food articles from the 30's, which highlights this work.

BTW, in the same vein, Nash once wrote: ''Everybody has the right to think whose food is the most gorgeous, and I nominate Georgia's."

* (Only 33 references web-wide according to Google - compared to over 90,000 for 'Candy is Dandy')

Nash Production Live in NYC this Weekend!

Ogden Nash's children's classic 'Custard the Dragon' will be performed live at the Algonquin Theater on East 24th on Sat 5/10 & 5/17 @ 11 & 2. Tickets are only $12 for adults and $8 for children. Could be a great way to spend an hour of your Saturday.

The Nash book was adapted into a Musical, with the help of the Kennedy Center for the Arts, by Brad Ross. Mr. Ross was inspired to put Nash's verse to music after thumbing through a copy of Custard the Dragon in a Manhattan book store. So much of Nash's verse about animals has been put to music, notably 'Carnival' . It's nice to see something new on this front. Please comment if you have a chance to see the show~!

Remembered for Sharing Ogden Nash

Here is a nice memorial to a man whose family remembered him for many wonderful things, one of which was how much he enjoyed reciting Ogden Nash to them.

Poetry Marathon is a Popular Fundraiser

Ogden Nash and Robert Frost showed up at the William B. Ogden Free Library in Walton, NY for a 24 hour poemathon.

April Twealth

A Month Late But Still Worth noting:

Lines in Praise of a Date Made Praiseworthy Solely by Something Very Nice That Happened to It

by Ogden Nash

As through the calendar I delve

I pause to rejoice in April twelve.

Yea, be I in sickness or be I in health

My favorite date is April twealth.

Thanks to Avianto