Damon Runyon

Damon Runyon was born in Kansas in 1880… His father was a newspaper man, and he was attracted to that profession. In 1898, he enlisted in the US army to fight in the Spanish American war. He then became a sports writer and moved to New York in 1910. 

 His first name was Alfred, and he dropped this when he started off in New York, and he was known by the racy and unusual Damon. He wrote about sports, for the Hearst Press, and this interest led him into gambling. He was also a heavy drinker but quit because of his first wife’s dislike of his drinking habit. He began to write short stories set in the underworld of New York, about the “guys and dolls” who are involved in show business, gambling and gangsterism. Like O Henry, many of his stories have a twist. 

His writing style usually involves only using the present tense, and never using contractions such as “can’t” or “wont”. Several of his stories were adapted into a musical, by Frank Loesser. There was a film version made in the 1950's - starring Marlon Brandon, who couldn't sing, and Frank Sinatra, who could.