Cuppy, Will, 1884-1949

William Jacob ("Will") Cuppy was an American humorist and journalist, best known for his satirical books How to be a Hermit (1929), How to Tell your Friends from the Apes (1931), How to Attract the Wombat (1949), and The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody (1950). He also wrote numerous essays, scripts, and reviews dealing with the animal kingdom, world history, crime fiction, and his personal life.

Cuppy was born and grew up in Auburn, Indiana, spending his summers at the family farm near South Whitley, where he discovered his first interest in the animal world. In 1902, he entered the University of Chicago and remained there for the next 12 years studying literature, although he devoted more attention to his work as a campus reporter for the Chicago Record-Herald and the Chicago Daily News. He was also involved in amateur theatre. Upon finishing his BA in 1907, he decided to stay on and pursue a PhD in English literature. Cuppy's first book, Maroon Tales (1910), was a collection of humorous stories about student life at the University of Chicago. Cuppy eventually lost interest in his PhD and left the university in 1914, after turning in his Master's thesis, "The Elizabethan Conception of Prose Style."

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