Erik Eckel

American humorist James Thurber could be a troublemaker. Known for writing The Catbird Seat and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, among other stories, fables, plays and books, the native Buckeye also worked for The Columbus Dispatch and was an early New Yorker staffer, serving as an editor in 1927, thanks in part to help from his friend E.B. “Andy” White, with whom he co-wrote Is Sex Necessary?

One of Thurber’s better pranks was his A Visit From Saint Nicholas (In The Ernest Hemingway Style), in which he has a little fun, albeit at Papa’s expense. If you’re unfamiliar with the piece, this is just the time of year to give it a read. Thurber clearly enjoyed styling the famous “’Twas the night before Christmas” poem, commonly attributed to Clement Clarke Moore (although that is in itself debatable), as if Hemingway had written it. You’ll be hard-pressed to read it without at least smiling, I suspect.

You can read Thurber’s entertaining send-up on a variety of Internet sites, but The New Yorker’s seems only fitting.

Happy holidays!