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H. L. Mencken, Sage Of Baltimore

Public Domain

H. L. Mencken was born 134 years ago this Friday.  An iconic figure here in his hometown and throughout the land, he was a prolific, famously curmudgeonly writer.  In the late 1930s and early 1940s, he published three volume of an autobiography recounting his childhood, his career at the Baltimore Herald and his life as a journalist and prominent figure.  He called the three books "Happy Days", "Newspaper Days", and "Heathen Days".  They've been collected by Mencken scholar Marion Rodgers as "The Days Trilogy: Expanded Edition".

The book include notes and commentary by Mencken which are being published for the first time.  Marion Rodgers joins Tom Hall on the line this morning from Washington.

The Mencken Society will host its annual Mencken Day this Saturday at the Enoch Pratt Central Library. Marion Rodgers will speak at 10:30 and at 2:00. Larry Gibson, a University of Maryland Law Professor, will deliver the annual Mencken Memorial Lecture.  His presentation is entitled “H. L. Mencken: Racist or Civil Rights Champion?” More information here.

Host, Midday (M-F 12:00-1:00)