Voting Station

Gelett Burgess

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Poet

The Resume

    (January 30, 1866-September 18, 1951)
    Born in Boston, Massachusetts
    Birth name was Frank Gelett Burgess
    Wrote for the monthly magazine 'The Lark'
    Wrote the books 'Goops and How to Be One' (1900) and 'Are You a Bromide' (1907)
    Created the comic strip 'The Goops' (1924)
    Best known poem was 'The Purple Cow' (I never saw a purple cow/I never hope to see one/But I can tell you anyhow/I'd rather see than be one)

Why he might be annoying:

    He was fired from his job as a technical drawing instructor at the University of California at Berkeley after toppling several statues he considered an eyesore.
    His 'Purple Cow' is often misattributed to fellow nonsense poet Ogden Nash.
    He got so frustrated with being associated with the poem that he wrote the sequel, 'Yes I wrote the Purple Cow/I'm sorry now I wrote it/But I can tell you anyhow/I'll kill you if you quote it.'

Why he might not be annoying:

    His article 'The Wild Men of Paris' introduced Americans to cubist art.
    He coined the word 'blurb.'
    He founded the Boys' Club of San Francisco (1891).
    He wrote, 'To appreciate nonsense requires a serious interest in life.'

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2022, Out of 6 Votes: 16.67% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 7 Votes: 71.43% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 3 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 6 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 7 Votes: 42.86% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 13 Votes: 61.54% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 11 Votes: 54.55% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 16 Votes: 56.25% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 13 Votes: 76.92% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 22 Votes: 59.09% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 29 Votes: 48.28% Annoying
    In 2008, Out of 37 Votes: 45.95% Annoying