Spotlight on Baltimore writers: a city rich in literature
Cara Weigand
Issue date: 3/28/06 Section: Arts & Society
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H.L. Mencken, known as the "Sage of Baltimore" was a great American critic, author, and newspaper man. Mencken grew up in the German section of Baltimore, where his father was a cigar maker and eventually ran his own tobacco firm. Mencken passed on the opportunity to move to New York and lived in Baltimore all his life. He is quoted as referring to New York as "a third-rate Babylon" and calling Baltimore "the immense protein factory of the Chesapeake Bay."
Mencken attended the nearby Baltimore Polytechnic Institute. "Happy Days," his biography up to his twelfth year, is an account of a bourgeois childhood in Baltimore. At age eight, Mencken was given a small press as a Christmas present. Due to trouble Mencken had when learning how to set the lowercase r's he decided to use "H.L. Mencken" instead of the full "Henry L. Mencken."
The Christmas gift gave Mencken a thirst for the press and he became a newspaper man. After much persistence he received a job at the old Baltimore Morning Herald in 1899, and later at The Baltimore Sun in 1906.
Mencken had a special passion for the Pratt Library and spent much of his time there, and eventually was where he left most of his collection of works. The large collection is stored in a special room on the third floor. The room is open to the public only once a year on Mencken's birthday in September.
A more recent author associated with Baltimore is Tom Clancy. Tom Clancy was born and raised in Baltimore. He attended Loyola Blakefield in Towson and studied English Literature at our own Loyola College, graduating with the class of 1969. He explained in a message to the Usenet Newstroup (alt.books.tom-clancy), that he studied English because "I wasn't smart enough to do physics."
Tom Clancy not only shared a love for English and literature but also for sports. In 1988 he made an unsuccessful attempt to purchase the Minnesota Vikings. However, he is currently the Vice Chairman of Community Projects & Public Affairs for the Baltimore Orioles.
Clancy's most recent novel was "The Teeth of the Tiger," which was published in 2003. If you enjoy reading military science, Cold War, and technically detailed works, Tom Clancy is an author you should look into.
Mencken attended the nearby Baltimore Polytechnic Institute. "Happy Days," his biography up to his twelfth year, is an account of a bourgeois childhood in Baltimore. At age eight, Mencken was given a small press as a Christmas present. Due to trouble Mencken had when learning how to set the lowercase r's he decided to use "H.L. Mencken" instead of the full "Henry L. Mencken."
The Christmas gift gave Mencken a thirst for the press and he became a newspaper man. After much persistence he received a job at the old Baltimore Morning Herald in 1899, and later at The Baltimore Sun in 1906.
Mencken had a special passion for the Pratt Library and spent much of his time there, and eventually was where he left most of his collection of works. The large collection is stored in a special room on the third floor. The room is open to the public only once a year on Mencken's birthday in September.
A more recent author associated with Baltimore is Tom Clancy. Tom Clancy was born and raised in Baltimore. He attended Loyola Blakefield in Towson and studied English Literature at our own Loyola College, graduating with the class of 1969. He explained in a message to the Usenet Newstroup (alt.books.tom-clancy), that he studied English because "I wasn't smart enough to do physics."
Tom Clancy not only shared a love for English and literature but also for sports. In 1988 he made an unsuccessful attempt to purchase the Minnesota Vikings. However, he is currently the Vice Chairman of Community Projects & Public Affairs for the Baltimore Orioles.
Clancy's most recent novel was "The Teeth of the Tiger," which was published in 2003. If you enjoy reading military science, Cold War, and technically detailed works, Tom Clancy is an author you should look into.