Finley Peter Dunne

Finley Peter Dunne (1867 - 1936) was a Chicago-based U.S. author, writer and humorist. He wrote Mr. Dooley in Peace and War in 1898. "Mr. Dooley" became one of the first nationally syndicated newpaper features. Set in a Chicago Irish pub, Mr. Dooley, the owner and bartender would expound upon political and social issues of the day, using the thick verbiage and accent of an Irish immigrant. Dunne's sly humor and political acumen won the support of President Theodore Roosevelt, a frequent target of Mr. Dooley's barbs.

Notes

Dunne was a charter member of a social circle of Chicago writers who frequently lampooned and competed with their New York City colleagues in pranks and outlandish stunts. He coined numerous political quips over the years. He is perhaps best known today as the originator of the aphorism "politics ain't beanbag".

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Dunne was a friend of Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain), with whom he played billiards, smoked cigars and drank. He was a member of Twain's "Damned Human Race Luncheon Club."

Related Topics:
Samuel Clemens - Mark Twain

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

He coined the word "southpaw" for a left-handed baseball pitcher while covering sports in Chicago in the 1880's. Home plate in the Chicago ball park was then to the west, so that a left-handed pitcher released the ball from the "paw", or hand, on the south side. The word soon came to describe any left-hander. (QPB Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins by Robert Hendrickson ).

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

As a journalist in the age of 'muckraking journalism,' Dunne was aware of the power of institutions, including his own. Writing as Dooley, Dunne once wrote the following passage cautioning against the power of the newspapers themselves:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:"Th newspaper does ivrything f'r us. It runs th' polis foorce an' th' banks, commands th' milishy, controls th' ligislachure, baptizes th' young, marries th' foolish, comforts th' afflicted, afflicts th' comfortable, buries th' dead an' roasts thim aftherward."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

From which, somewhat ironically, journalism took only a few lines as their own and stood these up as their raison d'etre. Specifically, "The business of a newspaper is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable." The expression has been borrowed and altered in many ways over the years. Clare Booth Luce employed a variation of it in a memorable tribute to Eleanor Roosevelt. Several religious leaders (including one Archbishop of Canterbury) have called it the goal of religion.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

And a version showed up in a memorable line delivered by Gene Kelly in a great newspaper movie, Stanley Kramer's 1960 film,

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Inherit the Wind. Kelly (E. K. Hornbeck) says, "Mr. Brady, it is the duty of a newspaper to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~