LoginJanuary 2024 Notable Maryland Author - H. L. Mencken
Author: H. L. Mencken - “Baltimore-Born Journalist Extraordinaire”
Genre: Journalism
"Men have a much better time of it than women. For one thing, they marry later.
For another, they die earlier.” – H. L. Mencken
(Written by Christopher T. George) He became the outspoken and controversial face of the Baltimore Sun. Henry Louis Mencken (1880-1956), born in Baltimore September 12, 1880, was the son of Anna Margaret (Abhau) and August Mencken Sr., a cigar manufacturer. He was of German ancestry and spoke German as a child. At age three, his family moved to a new home at 1524 Hollins Street facing Union Square Park in West Baltimore.
Apart from five years when he was married to Alabama-born writer Sara Haardt, a Professor of English at Goucher College whom he married in 1930, Mencken would live in that same house on Hollins Street for his entire life. Tragically, because of Sara Mencken’s poor health due to her having persistent tuberculosis, the marriage was doomed. She passed away from meningitis on May 31, 1935 leaving the journalist grief stricken. He would never marry again. See the 1968 book The Constant Circle: H. L. Mencken and His Friends written by Sara Mayfield, an Alabama childhood friend of Mrs. Mencken’s.
As characterized in Marylanders of the Century: Those Who Made a Difference edited by Barry Rascover (1999) and published by The Baltimore Sun, in which Mencken is the very first outstanding Marylander discussed, “Mencken took his craft to a pinnacle of focused and ascerbic hilarity. Columnists since have rarely had his bite or wit or daring. . . . He was an extraordinary writer of satire and polemic. The owners of The Sun [for which he wrote for 40 years after a brief dalliance with several rival newspapers] saw him as [a] welcome antidote to the flatulence of newspaper writing.”
Life magazine described Mencken as “The great debunker from Baltimore [who] finds the world full of fun and boobs” while opinion writer Russell Baker wrote that the “Sage of Baltimore” was “The most naturally blessed humorist since Mark Twain.” High praise indeed from a hugely perceptive observer of the American scene!
While many critics felt that Mencken’s posthumously published Diary (1990) exhibits anti-Semitic and racist ideas, fellow writers rushed to the late Baltimore humorist’s defense, pointing out that he could be equally scathing about Whites as about other races or religions. In a letter to editors of the New York Review published in the March 15, 1990 issue and signed by leading notable writers including Norman Mailer, Kurt Vonnegut, William Styron, and Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., the writers concluded, “Whatever Mencken’s ‘prejudices’—the word he himself used to describe his essays—he was a tremendous liberating force in American culture, and [he] should be so celebrated and remembered.”
Barry Rascover’s discussion of H. L. Mencken as a key Marylander concludes that although “skewered for his use of derogatory terms for Jews and African-Americans, . . . his writing suggests he used them in an arch way—in jest or as commentary on the masses who used them derisively. . . . Blemishes and all, [H. L. Mencken] was a leading figure of 20th-century Maryland. His writing career, his enormous influence on American journalism, and his loyalty to Baltimore are unparalleled.”
Genre: Journalism – Journalism refers to writing about the world around us, both in terms of current events but also the events and incidents of everyday life, e.g., how husbands and wives get on together and what could improve those relationships . Often a journalist will point out things about life that many of us don’t notice, including hypocrisies and absurdities.
Sample Reading List: The Portable Atheist: Essential Readings for the Non-believer; A Mencken Chrestomathy; The American Language; The Vintage Mencken; The Philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche
Fun With Words - Maryland Writers’ Association (MWA) invites you to have fun being a journalist pointing out the absurdities in this world of ours in the same way that H. L. Mencken did. Using up to 100 words, feel free like Mencken to reveal your true feelings about life today in America and the World. Title your work and submit to: https://marylandwriters.org/Notable_Maryland_Authors by the 22nd of the month to receive an MWA Fun With Words submission certificate. Selected responses will be published as comments to this article.
The MWA is a 31-year-old state-wide association (501c3) dedicated to encouraging and mentoring Maryland writers, poets, playwrights, and authors. Go to www.MarylandWriters.org for more info.
Beth Smith
Jan. 31, 2024Modern Monogamy - Modern monogamy is edging into the mindset of this country according to the arbiters of cultural and social America. I discovered this neologism as I searched newspaper articles to spot trends espoused by the titans of contemporary chic. Monogamy is tweaked. The modern goal is self-fulfillment. Couples just go in different directions with or without divorce. If you and your partner somehow manage to stay monogamous, you are probably not listening to your inner self or expanding your own personal universe. Other social neologisms include orbiting, ghosting, paperclipping, love bombing, and breadcrumbing. What do they mean? Be modern. Check Wikipedia.
Patton Seawright
Jan. 31, 2024Streaming Daughters “Mom! Mom!” Maitland screamed. “I can’t get TV.Romance-Note.” The melodramatic Merrill groaned. “I’m missing Sci-Net.World.” Both girls burst into my bedroom in dire straits. I looked up from my book. “What’s wrong?” My nineteen-year-old Maitland responded, “Our Streaming services are gone.” “I discontinued them. Those nine services cost $245 altogether. Learn to enjoy cable. It’s much cheaper at $185. These mega-million companies are robbing average Americans blind, including me.” A distraught Merrill flopped down on my bed. “When you’re working, you can pay for Streaming.” I turned back to my book.
Carol Russell
Jan. 31, 2024Invisibility Phenomena - More confirmation on the invisibility of women’s work was noted in January, when a married couple spent an evening together in their family room. Mr. H, seated comfortably, watched a TV show about aircraft carriers. Mrs. H, while removing ornaments from the Christmas tree, caught glimpses of the brave sailors serving on said ships. To and fro the tree Mrs. H moved repeatedly past the television set, placing decorations in boxes. At last she declared, “All done! Sorry for the distraction.” Mr. H, befuddled, inquired, “Distraction? Were you doing something?” Joining him on the couch, Mrs. H mused, “Sometimes I wonder…
Viola Robinson-Boone
Jan. 31, 2024My Cell Phone Doesn’t Work! - “Hold it, Molly.” I was too late. She stormed away before I could start the video. “Ugh!” I pressed the button to Tiffany’s number. “Wassup, Mom?” “Can you help me, please?” “What is it this time with you and that iPhone?” “Time Lapse on my camera. I’m teaching Molly how to dance. Her patience wore thin while I tried to work the feature on my phone.” “Goodness, Mom. I showed you fifteen times already.” “You Gen Z’s have a better understanding on how to operate this technology better than the Boomers.” “You always say that. Learn to use Google.
Brad Reinhart
Jan. 31, 2024Life Today in America - Life today in America is akin to being thrown into a swiftly moving stream of murky water and immediately being required to swim against the current. All the while talking to one's self in an effort to keep from drowning or going insane from the incessant gibberish lapping at your ears. You know that you’re going in the right direction if it gets increasingly louder and more difficult. The key to your survival is to get a rhythm by matching your soliloquy to your stroke as you distance yourself from the madness in your wake.
Norman D Plume
Jan. 31, 2024Lloyd Takes One for the Team - Was SecDef Austin AWOL? Did he keep his boss (there's only one) aware of his absence from his duty station. I'm suspicious of the current narrative. I understand his desire to privatize his affliction down where the sun never shines. Been there, doing that. But. I expect more from a career soldier. Shy won't get it done. Did he fail to alert the President about his hospitalizations? Or is the Secdef falling on his sword to protect him? Did he discuss his issues with the Commander in Chief? Did the prez simply forget? Lloyd may be getting a bum rap.
Lawrence McGuire
Jan. 31, 2024BETTER THE STRANGER YOU PHONE - People fear strangers. They invest in innovative locks and doorbell cameras to intimidate visitors. Yet these same homeowners when confronted with common problems--dishwasher awash in stinking black water, a black snake coiled in a shed--grab their smartphones to seek strangers' help. America is the land of quick answers and smartphones encourage such solutions. But thoughtless answers never prove a help. Good-hearted helpers offering well-intentioned guesses result in bad ends. So why would guarded people seek with their phones fast solutions to common problems from strangers they wouldn't let into their homes? Strangers appear safe and wise at a digital distance.
Penny Knobel-Besa
Jan. 31, 2024Scrooge Had It Right - In case you haven’t noticed, “It’s that time of the year…. again.” I would wish you Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or Solstice or whatever but, I don’t wish to be redundant. As you have already been wished to the max via stores windows, Christmas commercials which started in July, as they reach into your pocket and pull out your credit card. Perhaps, if they said “Here’s wishing you merry money or cheery cash?” I like the sound of that. With a greeting like that we’d have smiles from the plumber and street sweeper even your mother-in-law.
Jon Hillbilly Anthology Ketzner
Jan. 31, 2024Stop Skinning Those Sheep - In 2000, America was afflicted with 2 million PhD's. Today there are 5 million. These are Jill Biden-type doctors, not ol' Doc Welby-type doctors. We've only 1 million of those useful folks. The number of ersatz scholars holding master's degrees also grew 2.5 times: 10 million to 25 million. The population grew 20%. Can anyone, anywhere point to anything in American society that has benefitted from this metastasizing matriculation malignancy beside the bloated educational-industrial complex and diploma framers? I cannot. Fortunately, as a cultural counterbalance, the rate of increase in the number of Elvis impersonators has been almost as steep. Almost.
Jerry Jones
Jan. 31, 2024Stand Your Ground - The world is a stubborn place today. Things don’t work the way they used to as people are all about shoving their agenda down our throats, like it or not. “Cancel Culture” is their societal weapon used against to demean and dismiss our little lives while puffing up their ideas. Right or wrong they beat you down. We all must stand our ground and revive our traditions that used to make us all proud. Get back to learning the basics and studying what “Made in America” really means.
Christine Hickey
Jan. 31, 2024Heart to Heart - Wouldn’t you rather talk to someone who already knows?/ Despite the risk of interpretation/ Color has entered the room. Only the blind would not notice./ The anatomy of color leads us to the heart. It beats, it pumps, it breaks./ Sticks and stones, words too. Bruises don't always show./ Where intentions are free to roam, a nook note or asterisk diverts the eye/ To an explanation, the heart can unclench. For completeness, a dialog might follow./ When you see something, say something. When you hear something, did it ring true./ We have said, “What happens here, stays here”./ Dis-regard in this case and carry the message./
Cindy Herndon
Jan. 29, 2024Battling the Winter Doldrums and Welcoming 2024 - War, earthquakes, shootings—rock our world, but to forget about those troubles, scores participated in the annual January 1 Polar Plunge. Donned in bikinis or trunks, swimmers stayed warm by hovering over open fires in barrels. (Of course, they could have stayed warm at home!) Cell phones caught the ironic moments of barely clad folks forsaking the warmth--and their sanity--to plunge into the 42-degree water until fully immersed…no wading around for these lunatics. Goose bumps were as big as eagles. Swimmers laughed and on-lookers cheered or shook their heads in disbelief. Such is life in Chesapeake Beach, Maryland.
Gary Gunnulfsen
Jan. 29, 2024How I see the World - The world has changed. Always does, but now it seems after Covid, people are more rude, less pleasant and uncaring. Was it a brain virus? No, but it sure affects brains. In the bigger picture the world is so upside-down. Can’t tell genders or find borders. Schools brainwash skulls full of mush. Religion and family are “bad”. Countries and AI threaten take over. How do we win? But we should have hope. Humans naturally gravitate back to a higher power and family. AI will compete against other AI entities and cancel each other out. We pray.
Brett Dimiao
Jan. 29, 2024May the Better Man Win - The race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong… Your planned children, he with his travel-team honed competitive spirit and she, her orthodontic perfection and moot court trophies are going up against some fierce competition. Their peers, raised by wolves. Their mothers, addicted; their fathers, long gone. They are strung out, stoked up, angry and entitled. Let the games begin; May the better man win.
Leslie Dickey
Jan. 29, 2024Shiver me Timbers!! - Drunken sailors? I don’t think so. Those aren’t beer cans rolling around on the deck. Those are emptied out tins of spinach. After years of playing second fiddle in the war on terror, the Blue Jackets on our guided missile destroyers are laying down the law. The brave crews of the USS Carney, USS Mason and others are aggressively keeping the sea lanes open. Days to be proud of, days they’ll remember the rest of their lives. Yo ho blow the drones down. Get some for me, Popeye. I’ll keep an eye on Olive Oyl for you. Arrgh!
Jim Coleman
Jan. 29, 2024Three Little Words - A dazzling sunrise was fading into a beautiful morning on our anniversary weekend as we drove to town. My wife of 25 years looked over and said the three little words that will always touch a man's heart: "While we're out…." Oof. Three little words, instantly turning a thirty-minute errand into a soul-crushing day-long ordeal of ricocheting between Target, PetSmart, Lowe's, across town to Walmart, Giant, maybe some backtracking thrown in for extra fun. Goodbye beers, Saturday afternoon football. Hello acid reflux, mind-numbing selection of 87 varieties of cat food, all of which our cats will reject.
Ellen Coffey
Jan. 29, 2024Artificial Shakespeare - The New York Times is currently in litigation with OpenAI and Microsoft for copyright infringement over unauthorized use of their published works. Should all writers be worried that one day the computer will replace them? AI could mimic meter and rhyme to create a poem, but original metaphor and simile? No. Or create a thriller that has an ending that is not derivative of other books? I think not. Remember, computer content gleaned from the internet is written by human beings. There are few things that we create that we can’t mess up somehow.
Doris Brady
Jan. 29, 2024Zombie Apocalypse - I can’t come to any other conclusion: The Zombie Apocalypse is already upon us. They are not the Walking Dead zombies. Oh no. They are very much alive, existing among us. They eschew the legitimacy of the victor. They march forward in lock-step, denying the evidence of their own eyes, circulating disinformation. They are laying a trap for the uninformed. They aim to claim the weakest among us through fear. It’s all a lie. We don’t need lethal weapons to repel them; we need to hear and disseminate truth.
Rob Billingsley
Jan. 29, 2024In Bombs We Trust - Recently, end-of-year pleas for contributions from the International Rescue Committee, Doctors Without Borders, and CARE filled my mailbox, still recuperating from its Christmas card onslaught. They offered the opportunity to help their respective causes in Gaza as well as my tax deductions. As I whipped out my checkbook and favorite Pentel ball point, it suddenly occurred to me that I might be working at cross purposes. Should I send my hard-earned pay to repair the damages to those poor souls that my taxes helped pay for—that is, throw good money after bad?
Steve Baker
Jan. 29, 2024What Comes at the End of a Sentence? Parole! - School didn't teach me how to "adult." Instead, school taught me about Ben Franklin's kite-related electrical experiments and how "a-penny-saved-is-a-penny-earned." I'd rather school had taught me about making minor household electrical repairs and how to properly invest a penny. I suppose school taught me how to navigate layers of institutional bureaucracy being "guarded" by heavy-handed government stooges. Consequently, school unwittingly prepared me for prison. [eye roll] Thanks to school I now know how to both diagram and serve a sentence. Good Grief. I just wish that school had also taught me how to properly grind a shank and make a decent toilet wine!
Charles Roberts
Jan. 29, 2024Barnum & Bailey's Circus - If the United States of America was honest about itself at any point, it would have changed its name to 'Barnum & Bailey's Circus', moved our seat of government out of Washington D.C. and into a circus tent in Jacksonville, Florida. Our rich would live at Lindencroft Mansion, our poor would die at Bridgeport Hospital, and our middle class would don red boat shoes. We would knock down our statues, not only to the Confederates but to the Unionists and the Founding Fathers and even Rocky Balboa and replace them with Jeff Koon's large animal balloons filled with laughing gas
Sherri Weaver
Jan. 29, 2024Microsoft Edge - It takes reviving a dead man’s sentiments who left his footprint to answer this. Some say it’s because Mencken gave Americans a kick in the rear listing all their fallacies, ironies, tragedies, comedies, hypocrisies, and other E’s. New Year’s Eve I heard the Agnostic’s ghostly voice quite clear. America has come to terms with its perfected doom, its refined expertise on making mistakes and building on them exponentially. The Baby Doomers and American (lucid) Dreamers think technology is our friend leading us like a dog chasing its tail. Take the App Filters off. Look straight ahead. The Edge is near