ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
GIVEN MY LIFELONG LOVE OF PUNS AND IMPROBABLE, FORTUITOUS victory at the 1995 world championships, writing The Pun Also Rises might seem like an obvious and natural endeavor. But this book was not my idea. Gillian MacKenzie, my agent, recognized its potential before I did and urged me to pursue the project. She is one of the brightest people I know and a determined and talented punster, too. I am immeasurably grateful for her enthusiasm, professional guidance, and friendship.
I also am very grateful to Rachel Holtzman, Megan Newman, Bill Shinker, Travers Johnson, Lisa Johnson, Beth Parker, and the entire team at Gotham Books—from design to copyediting to production, sales and marketing—for recognizing the potential of the humble pun, too. From our very first meeting in the fall of 2009, they have worked hard to make this book the best it could possibly be, and I deeply appreciate their enthusiasm for the project.
I also owe a special debt of gratitude to the New York Public Library and especially to librarian Jay Barksdale. Early on in my research, I approached the reference desk in the great reading room on 42nd Street to ask a question. Jay not only answered it but also recommended an excellent book he’d just read about the history and philosophy of jokes. Even more generously, he approved my subsequent application to work in the Wertheim Study, whose tranquility and borrowing privileges enabled me to dig deeper into puns than I had ever imagined possible. Even in the age of Google, this mighty library made volumes of difference.
This book, of course, integrates the ideas of many others. I deeply appreciate the extraordinary scholarship and scientific research of hundreds of people whose work I have drawn upon, and their names appear in the bibliography. Some, however, were kind enough to share their insights or suggestions with me directly. Among them were Richard Parkinson, Noam Chomsky, Steven Pinker, Anatoly Liberman, Madhav Deshpande, Eliezer Segal, Terttu Nevalainen, Walter Redfern, Richard Lederer, Ruth Wisse, Robert Provine, Gary Gossen, Jack Rakove, Barry Dougherty, Mary Pedley, Robert Laughlin, John Haviland, and Josef Miller. Any omissions from these and the following acknowledgments are an oversight for which I humbly apologize.
In addition to these scholars, the peerless organizers and punsters of the O. Henry Pun-Off World Championships helped inspire and inform this book. The late George McClughan, now honored with an annual award in his name at the contest, was a formidable punster and a gracious opponent when we traded puns back in 1995. Emcee Gary Hallock, along with his co-emcee, Joel McColl, gave me the opportunity of a lifetime when they allowed me to enter the contest, which changed my career in ways I never could have foreseen. More recently, Gary was especially helpful as I researched the book, and he deserves high praise for making the championships a smashing success year after year.
Of course, this contest takes a team to produce, and I’m also grateful to 2010 co-emcees Brian Oakley, David Gugenheim, and Guy Ben-Moshe, as well as esteemed judges Stan Kegel, Jim Ertner, Alan Combs, Jim Gramon, David Arnsberger, and Steve Brooks, the latter a six-time champion. At the 2010 championships, the following competitors and members of the audience were kind enough to share their thoughts directly or indirectly, including Rhonda Shield, Ken Perrine, Alison Parma, Matt Otis, Ruby Collins, Larry Branch, Jacob Dodson, Mary Bashara, Bobbie Oliver, Darby Venza, Kirk Miller, Joshua Seeberg, Doug Spector, Chad Wellington, Andy Balinsky, Justin Golbabai, Kelly Dupen, Athene Persaud, Joe Sabia, Bob Dvorak, Joseph Poirier, Geoff Hambrick, Linda Eldredge, Sundance Mitchell, Kate Galbraith, Bertrand Piboin, Eirik Ott, Kai Mantsch, Gy Odom, Pete Reid, Jay Rosenberg, Jason Epstein, Tom Mitchell, Charles Wukasch, Satya Manz, Judy Dean, June Morris, Matt Pollock, and Benjamin Ziek. Thanks also go to Valerie Bennett and the team at the O. Henry Museum for their hospitality. I also appreciate Bobby Brown and Nicole Kirk for their patience as the contest ended, happy hour approached, and I kept on interviewing.
Several comedians and comedy writers offered me their professional insights into the relationship between puns and humor. These included Gilbert Gottfried, Mickey Freeman, Larry Storch, Michael Barrie, Alan Kirschenbaum, and especially Frank Santopadre, whose stories about his first job—writing jokes at the Bazooka Joe bubblegum factory in Brooklyn—were especially comical.
Others who helped make The Pun Also Rises the book that it is include Samara Klein, Michele Humes, Terry Edmonds, Loretta Ucelli, Sam Afridi, Lynne Eaton, Mike and Kathy McGilvray, Hugh and Liza Culverhouse, Jessica McGilvray, Sean and Carrie Gablehouse, Ken Weine, Barbara Kancelbaum, Talia Weine, Jeremy Weine, Bob Murphy, Andrew Scott, Del Blain, Patrick and Jennifer McDonough, Jock Friedly, Tamar Amalia Schoenberg, Amanda Spielman, Jordan Spielman, Martin Roz Spielman, Stanley Spielman, Victoria Spielman, Vaughn Joseph, Nourit Zimmerman, Amikam Kovner, Bonnie Slotnick, Ann Marsh, Kirk Thatcher, Laura “Pippi” Lobdell, Meaghen Brown, Erin Martin, Frank Schaefer, Jonathan Mirabito, Helen Leomar, Andrea Mirabito, Marsh Frank, Peter Van Keken, Marina Maher, Nancy Lowman Labadie, Joe Lapointe, Andrew Miller, Garth Goldstein, Mousumi Roy, Alex Toulouse-Lautrec, Naomi Starkman, Mark Weiner, Patricia Boulhosa, Richard DiLallo, Howard Sigman, Al Cain, Michael Feinstein, Jeff Marx, Geno Bicic, Jimmy You, Dan Okrent, Allan Siegal, Joseph Corn, Fiona Greenland, Mike Way, Carole Way, Barbara Fagan-Smith, Colin Smith, Mike Lynberg, Lee Callaway, Christy Lang, Sheryl Lewis, Lesli Gee, Lisa Stambaugh, Tina Rosenblum, Amy Knight, Rory Mc-Cleod, Don Evans, and Jeffrey and Hanna Coorsh. I also thank Merry Conway, whose generally contrarian perspective, extraordinary library of obscure books, and keen insights were a big help, too.
From the very inception of this book, the gang at Jack’s coffee shop was exceptionally supportive and helpful as the project evolved from concept to manuscript. From the first time I mentioned the idea for this book, Brandt Goldstein (who could himself win a gold cup for punning) insisted that I write it and gave me great advice and support throughout. I am also grateful for the ideas, insights and generosity of Jack Mazzola (whose coffee fueled me up every morning), Larry Shaps, Tom Ruff, Ken Berlin, Ted Heller, Iris Johnson, Gilbert Girion, Brad Blume, Richard King, Deb Meisenzahl, Bill Meisenzahl, Dickyi Deshitsang, Marcy Heisler, Giovanna Gray, Christina Lehr, Tim Stock, Marie Stock, Sabine Stock, Hilary Sobel, Emma Barrie, Adam Saucy, Kayla Morse, Miela Siy, Marek Mroz, Saph Hall, Adam Shaljian, Akila Stewart, Noah Fuller, Chris Steigler, and especially Elisha Cooper. Elisha was a great sounding board throughout the project and even came up with the bright idea for the book’s cover art, which he then painted. In a similar spirit, David Turnley, a talented photojournalist and fellow Midwesterner, was also very generous in taking my author photo.
Another great friend from the coffee shop, Richard Scott Walker, was equally enthusiastic about the project’s historical dimensions, which we discussed many afternoons upon my return from the library. Sadly, Richard died shortly before I completed the final manuscript, but I think he would have really enjoyed this book. Two other late friends from Jack’s were Lorraine Wilbur and Joe Colombo. Over many afternoon coffees in recent years, they too encouraged my writing and always put life into better perspective.
Just down the block from Jack’s is my favorite independent bookstore: Three Lives & Company. Often, after a long day at the keyboard, I would drop by to share my progress, even if it was only a hundred words. The regular encouragement of Toby Cox, Joyce McNamara, Carol Wald, Amanda Friss, and Maura Whang kept me going. They also helped me find books I needed for research, and weighed in on the title and cover design.
Two teachers of mine played indirect but important roles in this book, too. One was my first and best English professor at Stanford, Nancy Packer, who taught me that writing is like anything else—if you practice, you get better. The other was my mentor, the late Bill Montalbano, a foreign correspondent for the Los Angeles Times who loved clever wordplay. One day in Madrid in 1992, when I was a scrub freelancer, we had just finished a feast of tapas near the Plaza Santa Ana and were walking back to his hotel, a beaux arts monument to luxury whose nightly tariff probably equaled a month’s rent for me.
“I hope that someday, if I make it big like you, I’ll be just as humble,” I said.
“Don’t worry,” he answered, “anyone who makes such bad puns has to be humble.”
While I have yet to make it big, I hope this book reflects some of the lessons he taught me.
Another important influence on this book was the lovely Cece Culverhouse. She joined me under the hot Texas sun for the 2010 pun championships, traipsed about chilly England as we searched for the pun’s historic echoes, and always welcomed my daily updates on research and writing with great enthusiasm. Her patience, insights, suggestions, support, laughter and love made all the difference.
Finally, I thank my parents, Henry and Lana Pollack. Both are excellent writers, and their detailed input made the manuscript a lot stronger. Even more important, however, has been their unwavering love and faith in me as a son. From the time I could first speak, they taught me the beauty of language and the power of imagination. Throughout childhood, with their encouragement, my sister Sara and I traded countless knock-knock jokes. As a family, the four of us spent a lot of time punning around the dinner table and playing round after round of Boggle. Little did I know that such family wordplay would eventually lead to a lifetime of punning, a livelihood as a writer, and all the intellectual riches that only a love of language can yield. I got lucky, and hope I make them proud.