Don Marquis - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Donald Robert Perry Marquis (ˈmɑrkwɪs ; July 28, 1878, in Walnut, Illinois

Walnut, Illinois

Walnut is a village in Bureau County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,461 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Ottawa–Streator Micropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Walnut is located at ....

– June 16, 1937, in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

) was a humorist, journalist

Journalist

A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...

, and author. He was variously a novelist, poet, newspaper columnist

Columnist

A columnist is a journalist who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs....

, and playwright

Playwright

A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...

. He is remembered best for creating the characters "Archy" and "Mehitabel"

Archy and mehitabel

Archy and Mehitabel is the title of a series of newspaper columns written by Don Marquis beginning in 1916. Written as fictional social commentary and intended as a space-filler to allow Marquis to meet the challenge of writing a daily newspaper column six days a week, archy and mehitabel is...

, supposed authors of humorous verse.
Marquis grew up in Walnut, Illinois

Walnut, Illinois

. His brother David died in 1892 at the age of 20; his father James died in 1897. After graduating from Walnut High School in 1894, he attended Knox Academy, a now-defunct preparatory program run by Knox College, in 1896, but left after three months.