Rudolph Edgar Block (December 6, 1870 – April 29, 1940) was a
Jewish American
American Jews (; ) or Jewish Americans are American citizens who are Jewish, whether by culture, ethnicity, or religion. According to a 2020 poll conducted by Pew Research, approximately two thirds of American Jews identify as Ashkenazi, 3% id ...
journalist, columnist, and author. Much of his writing was done under the
pen name
A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name.
A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...
of Bruno Lessing.
Biography
Rudolph Block began his career as a journalist in 1888. He worked first as a news reporter on ''The New York Sun'' and later joined ''The
New York World
The ''New York World'' was a newspaper published in New York City from 1860 to 1931. The paper played a major role in the history of American newspapers as a leading national voice of the Democratic Party. From 1883 to 1911 under publisher Jo ...
''. In 1896 he became the editor of the comic supplements to the Hearst newspapers, a position he held for the next 28 years. During his tenure he supplied text for ''
The Yellow Kid
The Yellow Kid (Mickey Dugan) is an American comic-strip character that appeared from 1895 to 1898 in Joseph Pulitzer's ''New York World'', and later William Randolph Hearst's ''New York Journal''. Created and drawn by Richard F. Outcault in t ...
'' and helped to create such popular series as ''
Happy Hooligan
''Happy Hooligan'' is an American comic strip, the first major strip by the already celebrated cartoonist Frederick Burr Opper. It debuted with a Sunday strip on March 11, 1900 in the William Randolph Hearst newspapers, and was one of the first p ...
'' and ''
The Katzenjammer Kids
''The Katzenjammer Kids'' is an American comic strip created by Rudolph Dirks in 1897 and later drawn by Harold Knerr for 35 years (1914 to 1949). As "Bruno Lessing" his short stories chronicled life in the Jewish ghetto of
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
. Between 1905 and 1909, many of these tales were published by ''Cosmopolitan'', which at that time was a literary magazine. During the years 1915 – 1916 he also wrote a number of screenplays depicting the
Jewish American
American Jews (; ) or Jewish Americans are American citizens who are Jewish, whether by culture, ethnicity, or religion. According to a 2020 poll conducted by Pew Research, approximately two thirds of American Jews identify as Ashkenazi, 3% id ...
experience.
Ambrose Bierce
Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce (June 24, 1842 – ) was an American short story writer, journalist, poet, and American Civil War veteran. His book '' The Devil's Dictionary'' was named one of "The 100 Greatest Masterpieces of American Literature" by the ...
, another frequent contributor to ''Cosmopolitan'', mentioned Block in his satirical work ''
The Devil's Dictionary
''The Devil's Dictionary'' is a satirical dictionary written by American journalist Ambrose Bierce, consisting of common words followed by humorous and satirical definitions. The lexicon was written over three decades as a series of installments ...
'', recounting the author's alleged encounter with a prominent critic. A short poem by Bierce, titled "Rudolph Block", had no apparent connection to the man himself.
An avid traveler, Block wrote about his experiences in the daily newspaper column "Vagabondia", which was published from 1928 through 1939. Along the way he amassed a collection of 1,400 walking sticks, although he himself walked unaided. After his death, the collection of canes, each made from a unique type of wood, was donated to
Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
Ethel Olson
Between 1905 and 1925 Eleonora and Ethel Olson were well-known figures in Scandinavian communities throughout the United States. They toured extensively in the Midwest, and their recordings on major record labels gained them a nationwide following ...