Olympian Nights

John Kendrick Bangs was an American writer, humorist, editor, and satirist who lived from May 27, 1862, to January 21, 1922. Yonkers, New York, is where he was born. Francis S. Bangs and his brother Francis N. Bangs worked as a lawyer in New York City. Bangs earned a Bachelor of Philosophy in Political Science from Columbia College in 1883. He edited the literary journal Acta Columbia at Columbia and wrote brief, anonymous pieces for humor magazines. Bangs also briefly held the position of Munsey's Magazine's first editor. Bangs unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Yonkers, New York, in 1894. He delivered a speech in 1918 to YMCA members and allied soldiers on the front lines in France. He was well-known in the "Profile Cottage" circles as a jokester and prankster in addition to being a sarcastic author. In 1901, he departed Harper & Brothers, and in 1903, he was appointed editor of the New Metropolitan publication. He was named editor of Puck in 1904, which was maybe the best American humor publication at the time. He shifted his attention to the lecture circuit in 1906. At the age of 59, he passed away from stomach cancer in Atlantic City, New Jersey.