Career

Lardner attended Phillips Academy, graduating in 1929. He completed on year at Harvard, he left for the Sorbonne, where he wrote for the Paris branch of the International Herald Tribune

International Herald Tribune

The International Herald Tribune is a widely read English language international newspaper. It combines the resources of its own correspondents with those of The New York Times and is printed at 38 sites throughout the world, for sale in more than 160 countries and territories...

. He never finished his degree, but instead worked for the Herald Tribune in New York from 1931, following in his father’s path as a sports writer. Lardner wrote a weekly column for Newsweek

Newsweek

Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...

 called “Sport Week,” for 15 years beginning in 1933.

He later became a war correspondent during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, dispatching from Europe and Africa. Additionally, he wrote for the Saturday Evening Post, the New Yorker, the New York Times Magazine and Women’s Home Companion. Lardner also worked with his brother Ring Lardner Jr. on film projects. He died in March 1960.

Some of Lardner's work was collected into a book, The John Lardner Reader: A Press Box Legend's Classic Sportswriting, by sports writer John Schulian in 2010.

Personal life

Lardner was the first son of popular sports writer Ring Lardner

Ring Lardner

Ringgold Wilmer Lardner was an American sports columnist and short story writer best known for his satirical takes on the sports world, marriage, and the theatre.-Personal life:...

 and his wife Ellis. He was born in Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

, where his father was writing for the Chicago Examiner. However, the family moved to the East Coast when he was seven, eventually settling in East Hampton. He was married to Hazel Hairston and had three children.

External links

• John Lardner Papers at Newberry Library
  Newberry Library
  The Newberry Library is a privately endowed, independent research library for the humanities and social sciences in Chicago, Illinois. Although it is private, non-circulating library, the Newberry Library is free and open to the public...