Stuart Berg Flexner (1928–1990) was a

lexicographer Lexicography is the study of lexicons and the art of compiling dictionaries. It is divided into two separate academic disciplines: * Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionary, dictionaries. * The ...

, editor and author, noted for his books on the origins of American words and expressions, including ''I Hear America Talking'' and ''Listening to America''; as co-editor of the '' Dictionary of American Slang'' and as chief editor of the ''

Random House Dictionary ''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary'' is a large American dictionary, first published in 1966 as ''The Random House Dictionary of the English Language: The Unabridged Edition''. Edited by Editor-in-chief Jess Stein, it contained 315,0 ...

, Second Edition''.

Personal life

Flexner was the son of clothing retailer David Flexner and Gertrude, née Berg.The Scribner Encyclopaedia of American Lives: 1986-1990, ed. Kenneth T. Jackson, Karen Markoe, Arnie Markoe, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1998, p. 294 He was twice married, first to Miriam Bogen and then to Doris Louise Hurcomb.

Bibliography

* ''How to Increase Your Word Power'' (1971) * ''Family Word Finder: A New Thesaurus of Synonyms and Antonyms in Dictionary Form'' (1975) * ''I Hear America Talking: An Illustrated Treasury of American Words and Phrases'' (1976) * ''Listening to America: An Illustrated History of Words and Phrases from our Lively and Splendid Past'' (1982) * ''Dictionary of American Slang'', with Harold Wentworth (editions 1960, 1967, 1975) * ''Oxford American Dictionary'', with Eugene H. Ehrlich, Gorton Carruth, Joyce M. Hawkins (1980) * ''The Random House Thesaurus'', with Jess Stein (1984) * ''The Pessimist's Guide To History : An Irresistible Compendium Of Catastrophes, Barbarities, Massacres And Mayhem From The Big Bang To The New Millennium'', with Doris Flexner (1992) 2nd edition (2000) 3rd edition (2008) * ''The Random House Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Second Edition'', editor (1987) * ''Wise Words and Wives' Tales: The Origins, Meanings and Time-Honored Wisdom of Proverbs and Folk Sayings Olde and New'', (1993) * ''Speaking Freely: A Guided Tour of American English from Plymouth Rock to Silicon Valley'', with Anne H. Soukhanov (1997)

References

External links

* by Don Swaim 1928 births 1990 deaths 20th-century American non-fiction writers Cornell University alumni 20th-century American male writers American male non-fiction writers 20th-century American lexicographers {{US-nonfiction-writer-stub