The Poet

OGDEN NASH

Born and christened Frederick Ogden Nash, the poet was raised in Rye, New York, where his father, Edmund, owned and operated a naval import-export company. The family lived a comfortable life of privilege in a sprawling three- tiered Italianate mansion on fifty acres until Ogden was twelve. Due to a series of antitrust suits, his father’s business failed and the family experienced financial ruin. After several years of struggle, Edmund Nash found new work and Ogden was able to attend St. George’s preparatory school, where he contributed to the literary magazine, school newspaper, and yearbook, and went on to Harvard. But only a year into his college education, Ogden’s father lost his position and funds ran short again.

At that point (1920) Ogden moved to New York City and started working, first on Wall Street selling bonds and then as a copywriter for streetcar advertisements. In 1925 he and a friend collaborated on a children’s book that was published by Doubleday to very little success, but it gave them entry into the publishing world. Once Ogden had the attention of The New Yorker magazine his poetry was frequently featured on its pages. In 1931 he published his first book of poetry, Hard Lines; it was very well received, and he decided to pursue writing poetry full-time.

When Natalie Merchant was researching information about Ogden Nash, she was interested to learn that he spent part of the Great Depression in Hollywood as a frustrated screenplay writer (The Fire y, The Feminine Touch). He also collaborated as a lyricist with

Kurt Weill on a popular Broadway musical (One Touch of Venus), and was a frequent celebrity panelist for a very successful game show, Masquerade Party. Considering his humorist persona, she was shocked to learn that Nash suffered from an incurable and often debilitating condition, Crohn’s disease. He spent much of his later life in and out of hospitals and in a state of near constant pain except when the disease was in remission.

Ogden married Frances Leonard in 1931 and together they had two daughters, Linell (born 1932) and Isabel (born 1933). He was a particularly devoted and enthusiastic father who took immense pleasure in spending time with his daughters. The fierce little poem “Adventures of Isabel” was written for his daughter Isabel and first appeared in The Bad Parents’ Garden of Verse (1936). Nash wrote many books for children during his life and this work enjoyed equal popularity with his writing for adult readers.