(1884–1946). American journalist and short-story writer Damon Runyon was known for his book Guys and Dolls (1931). He wrote both his own stories and the news in a characteristic slangy, flamboyant style.
Alfred Damon Runyon was born on October 4, 1884, in Manhattan, Kansas. At age 14 he enlisted in the U.S. Army and was sent to the Philippines during the Spanish-American War. After the war he wrote for Western newspapers for 10 years. Although Runyon gained a reputation as a political and feature reporter, his passion was for sports. In 1911 he moved to New York, New York, where he became a reporter for the New York American. Runyon covered New York baseball for many years, as well as various other sports topics. He developed a style of focusing on human interest rather than strictly reporting facts.
Meanwhile, Runyon began writing stories about a racy section of Broadway, and these were collected in Guys and Dolls. That book is representative of Runyon’s style in its use of an exaggerated version of local idiom to portray a particular class of characters—gamblers, promoters, fight managers, race-track bookies, and other frequent street visitors.
In the 1930s Runyon began writing columns, and his popular feature “As I See It” was syndicated. He was at the peak of his popularity during that time, becoming one of the most productive and highly paid writers in New York. Runyon died on December 10, 1946, in New York City.
