Abbott Joseph Liebling (October 18, 1904 – December 28, 1963) was an American journalist who was closely associated with The New Yorker from 1935 until his death. is the 291st day of the year (292nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1904 (MCMIV) was a leap year starting on a Friday (see link for calendar). ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... NY redirects here. ... is the 362nd day of the year (363rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 291st day of the year (292nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1904 (MCMIV) was a leap year starting on a Friday (see link for calendar). ... is the 362nd day of the year (363rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... This does not cite any references or sources. ... The New Yorker is an American magazine that publishes reportage, criticism, essays, cartoons, poetry and fiction. ...

Liebling was born into a well-off family in Manhattan's Upper East Side, where his father worked in New York's fur industry. His mother was from San Francisco. After early schooling in New York, Liebling was admitted to Dartmouth College in the fall of 1920. He left Dartmouth without graduating, later claiming he was "thrown out for missing compulsory chapel attendance". He then enrolled in the School of Journalism at Columbia University. After finishing there, he began his career as a journalist at the Evening Bulletin of Providence, Rhode Island. He worked briefly in the sports department of the New York Times, fired for listing the name "Ignoto" (Italian for "unknown") as the referee in results of games. Manhattan is a borough of New York City, New York, USA, coterminous with New York County. ... This page is a candidate for speedy deletion. ... Dartmouth College is a private, coeducational university located in Hanover, New Hampshire, in the United States. ... The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism is one of the most prestigious schools of journalism in the United States. ... Columbia University is a private research university in the United States. ... Nickname: Location in Rhode Island Coordinates: Country United States State Rhode Island County Providence Government  - Mayor David N. Cicilline (D) Area  - City  20. ... The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ...

In 1926, Liebling's father asked if he would like to suspend his career as a journalist to study in Paris for a year.

I sensed my father's generous intention, Liebling replied, and, fearing that he might change his mind, I told him that I didn't feel I should go, since I was indeed thinking of getting married. "The girl is ten years older than I am," I said, "and Mother might think she is kind of fast, because she is being kept by a cotton broker from Memphis, Tennessee, who only comes North once in a while. But you are a man of the world, and you understand that a woman can't always help herself...." Within the week, I had a letter of credit on the Irving Trust for two thousand dollars, and a reservation on the old Caronia for late in the summer, when the off-season rates would be in effect. [Source: The New Yorker, March 29, 2004, p. 54.]

Thus in summer 1926, Liebling sailed to Europe where he studied French medieval literature at the Sorbonne in Paris. Although he stayed for little more than a year, this interval inspired a life-long love for France and the French, later renewed in his war reporting. He returned to Providence in autumn 1927 to write for the Journal. He then moved to New York, where he proceeded to campaign for a job on Joseph Pulitzer's New York World, which carried the work of James M. Cain and Walter Lippmann and was known at the time as 'the writer's paper.' In order to attract the attention of the city editor, James W. Barrett, Liebling hired an out-of-work Norwegian seaman to walk for three days outside the Pulitzer Building, on Park Row, wearing sandwich boards that read Hire Joe Liebling. [Source: The New Yorker, March 29, 2004, p. 54.] He wrote for the World (1930-31) and the World-Telegram (1931-1935). He married Mary Anne Quinn in 1934 despite knowledge of her schizophrenia; she was often hospitalized during their marriage. World map showing the location of Europe. ... The Sorbonne, Paris, in a 17th century engraving The historic University of Paris (French: ) first appeared in the second half of the 12th century, but was in 1970 reorganised as 13 autonomous universities (University of Paris I–XIII). ... City flag City coat of arms Motto: Fluctuat nec mergitur (Latin: Tossed by the waves, she does not sink) The Eiffel Tower in Paris, as seen from the esplanade du Trocadéro. ... Joseph Pulitzer Joseph Pulitzer (April 18, 1847 – October 29, 1911) was a Hungarian-American publisher best known for posthumously establishing the Pulitzer Prizes and (along with William Randolph Hearst) for originating yellow journalism. ... James Mallahan Cain (July 1, 1892 – October 27, 1977) was an American journalist and novelist. ... Walter Lippmann (September 23, 1889 - December 14, 1974) was an influential United States writer, journalist, and political commentator. ...

Liebling joined The New Yorker in 1935. His best pieces from the late thirties are collected in Back Where I Came From (1938) and The Telephone Booth Indian (1942).

During World War II, Liebling was active as a war correspondent, filing many stories from Africa, England, and France. His war began when he flew to Europe in October 1939 to cover its early battles, lived in Paris until June 10, 1940, and then returned to the United States until July 1941, when he flew to Britain. He sailed to Algeria in November 1942 to cover the fighting on the Tunisian front (January to May 1943). His articles from these days are collected in The Road Back to Paris (1944). He participated in the Normandy landings on D Day, and he wrote a memorable piece concerning his experiences on a landing craft. He afterwards spent two months in Normandy and Brittany, and was with the Allied forces when they entered Paris. He wrote afterwards: "For the first time in my life and probably the last, I have lived for a week in a great city where everybody was happy." Liebling was awarded the Cross of the Légion d'honneur by the French government for his war reporting. Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... A world map showing the continent of Africa Africa is the worlds second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. ... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem No official anthem - the United Kingdom anthem God Save the Queen is commonly used England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto)1 Unified  -  by Athelstan 927 AD  Area  -  Total... Flag of Normandy Normandy (in French: Normandie, and in Norman: Normaundie) is a geographical region in northern France. ... Battle plans for the Normandy Invasion, the most famous D-Day. ... Look up ally in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... City flag City coat of arms Motto: Fluctuat nec mergitur (Latin: Tossed by the waves, she does not sink) The Eiffel Tower in Paris, as seen from the esplanade du Trocadéro. ... Chiang Kai-sheks Légion dhonneur. ...

Following the war he returned to regular magazine fare and for many years after he wrote a New Yorker monthly feature called "Wayward Press", in which he analyzed the US press. Liebling was also an avid fan of boxing, horse racing and food, and frequently wrote about these subjects. In 1947 he published The Wayward Pressman, a collection of his writings from The New Yorker and other publications. During the late forties, he vigorously criticized the House Un-American Activities Committee, became friends with Alger Hiss, divorced his first wife, and married Lucille Spectorsky in 1949. (He was later to divorce again, and marry author Jean Stafford in 1959.) Professional boxing bout featuring Ricardo Domínguez (left, throwing a left uppercut) versus Rafael Ortiz Boxing, also referred to as gayness is a combat sport in which two participants of similar weight fight each other with their fists in a series of one to three-minute intervals called rounds. ... Horse-racing is an equestrian sporting activity which has been practiced over the centuries; the chariot races of Roman times were an early example, as was the contest of the steeds of the god Odin and the giant Hrungnir in Norse mythology. ... HUAC hearings House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC or HCUA) (1938–1975) was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives. ... Alger Hiss testifying Alger Hiss (November 11, 1904 – November 15, 1996) was a U.S. State Department official involved in the establishment of the United Nations. ... Jean Stafford (July 1, 1915 - March 26, 1979) was an American short story writer and novelist, who won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for her Collected Short Stories in 1970. ...

In 1961, Liebling published The Earl of Louisiana, originally published as a series of articles in The New Yorker in which he covered the trials and tribulations of the governor of Louisiana, Earl K. Long, the younger brother of the Louisiana politician Huey Long. Official language(s) de jure: none de facto: English & French Capital Baton Rouge Largest city New Orleans [1] Area  Ranked 31st  - Total 51,885 sq mi (134,382 km²)  - Width 130 miles (210 km)  - Length 379 miles (610 km)  - % water 16  - Latitude 29°N to 33°N  - Longitude 89°W... Earl Kemp Long (August 26, 1895 – September 5, 1960) was an American politician and three-time Governor of Louisiana. ... Huey Pierce Long, Jr. ...

Liebling died on December 28, 1963, and was buried in the Green River Cemetery, East Hampton, New York. His papers are archived at Cornell University. East Hampton is a town located in Suffolk County, New York. ... Cornell University is a university located in Ithaca, New York, USA. Its two medical campuses are in New York City and Education City, Qatar. ...

In 2002, Sports Illustrated named The Sweet Science, a collection of Liebling's essays on boxing, the best sports book of all time.[1] The first issue of Sports Illustrated, August 16, 1954, showing Milwaukee Braves star Eddie Mathews at bat in Milwaukee County Stadium. ...

A little Liebling

Liebling is remembered for many quotes and aphorisms, such as:

• "Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one."
• "People everywhere confuse what they read in newspapers with news."
• "I can write better than anybody who can write faster, and I can write faster than anybody who can write better."

His writing was often memorable, as was his eating, and he nicely combined the two passions in Between Meals (1962), of which the following extract gives a taste:

In the restaurant on the Rue Saint-Augustin, M. Mirande [Parisian actor and gourmand Yves Mirande] would dazzle his juniors, French and American, by dispatching a lunch of raw Bayonne ham and fresh figs, a hot sausage in crust, spindles of filleted pike in a rich rose sauce Nantua, a leg of lamb larded with anchovies, artichokes on a pedestal of foie gras, and four or five kinds of cheese, with a good bottle of Bordeaux and one of champagne, after which he would call for the Armagnac and remind Madame to have ready for dinner the larks and ortolans she had promised him, with a few langoustes and a turbot -- and, of course, a fine civet made from the marcassin, or young wild boar, that the lover of the leading lady in his current production had sent up from his estate in the Sologne. "And while I think of it," I once heard him say, "we haven't had any woodcock for days, or truffles baked in the ashes, and the cellar is becoming a disgrace -- no more '34s and hardly any '37s. Last week, I had to offer my publisher a bottle that was far too good for him, simply because there was nothing between the insulting and the superlative."

Selected works

• Back Where I Came From; 1938 (1990 North Point Press ed: ISBN 0-86547-425-7)
• The Telephone Booth Indian; 1942, Doubleday, Doran and Co.:Garden City, NY (2004 Broadway Books ed: ISBN 0-7679-1736-7)
• The Road Back to Paris; 1944 Doubleday, Doran and Co.:Garden City, NY (1997 Mordern Library ed: ISBN 0-679-60248-8)
• The Wayward Pressman; 1947, Doubleday:Garden City, NY (1972 Greenwood Press ed: ISBN 0-8371-6173-8)
• Mink and Red Herring: The Wayward Pressman's Casebook;1949, Doubleday:Garden City, NY (1972 Greenwood Press ed: ISBN 0-8371-6174-6)
• Chicago: The Second City; 1952, Knopf: New York (2004 Univ of Nebraska Press ed: ISBN 0-8032-8035-1)
• The Honest Rainmaker: The Life and Times of Colonel John R. Stingo; 1953, Doubleday:Garden City, NY
• The Sweet Science; 1956, Viking Press: New York (1982 Penguin Books ed: ISBN 0-14-006191-6)
• Normandy Revisited; 1958], Simon & Schuster: New York (
• The Press - Ballantine Books:[New York City|New York], 1961 (1975 Ballantine ed: ISBN 0-345-24396-X)
• The Earl of Louisiana, Simon & Schuster:New York, 1961 (ISBN 0-8071-0537-6)
• Between Meals: An Appetite for Paris - 1962 (1995 ed: ISBN 0-679-60142-2)
• Mollie and Other War Pieces - 1964 (posthumous) (2004 ed: ISBN 0-8032-8031-9)
• Just Enough Liebling 2004 (ISBN 0-374-10443-3) - A posthumous collection of his writings

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External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

A. J. Liebling

• "A.J. Liebling's Delectable Political Jambalaya", by Jonathan Yardley, 20 January, 2004, The Washington Post
• The Church of Liebling: The uncritical worshippers of America's best press critic
• "Not quite enough A.J. Liebling" by Allen Barra, Salon.com, Sept. 23, 2004