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(Alfred) Damon Runyon |
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The iconoclastic Damon Runyon was a highly respected sportswriter, but he was also more than a sportswriter. His style reflected the America of the turn of the century: brash, bold, and swaggering. Known as "The Chronicler of Broadway" because of books such as Guys and Dolls (1931), Runyon introduced to the nation the lingo and characters of the New York sports world and underworld. Baseball Hattie; Madame La Gimp; Sky Masterson (named after Runyon's friend Wild West legend Bat Masterson); Little Miss Marker; Dark Delores; Dave the Dude; Nathan Detroit; Regret, the Horse Player; Hot Horse Herbie; Nicely-Nicely--all these are products of Runyon's fertile imagination. His sports beat spanned the Polo Grounds, Yankee Stadium, Ebbets Field, and Madison Square Garden. He knew the gyms and fight rings where the great, not so great, and "wanna-be" pugilists trained. He was a regular at the racetracks of Saratoga, Pimlico, and Hialeah.
Runyon was a close friend of the gentlemanly Christy "Big Six" Mathewson as well as of the brutal fighter Jack Dempsey.
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