...from the book, Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of
American Writers.
©2001
*photo from WikiPedia.
Burgess, (Frank) Gelett (b. Jan. 30, 1866, Boston-
d.Sept. 17, 1951, Carmel, Calif.) Humorist and illustrator.
Burgess graduated from MIT in 1887 and became a draftsman for
the Southern Pacific Railroad, after which he taught
topographical drawing at the University of California. In 1894 he
changed professions, becoming associate editor of Wave
magazine. In 1895 he became the founding editor of the humor
magazine Lark, and in 1897 he began to publish books of his
self-illustrated whimsical writings. Among his best-known
works are 'Goops and How to Be Them' (1900), on bad-mannered
children, and 'Are You a Bromide?' (1906), the origin of bromide
as meaning "a boring person."
Burgess also coined the word 'blurb' to describe the praise
printed on book jackets. He is best known for the quatrain
"I never saw a purple cow,/I never hope to see one;/
But I can tell you, anyhow,/I'd rather see than be one."
