UNITED STATES AUTHOR · FICTION · ANECDOTES
George Plimpton
Also known as: George PLIMPTON, GEORGE PLIMPTON
George Ames Plimpton (March 18, 1927 – September 25, 2003) was an American writer. He is known for his sports writing and for helping to found The Paris Review, as well as his patrician accent. He was known for "participatory journalism," including accounts of his active involvement in professional sporting events, acting in a Western, performing a comedy act at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, and playing with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and then recording the experience from the point of view of an amateur. According to The New York Times, his "exploits in editing and writing seesawed between belles lettres and the witty accounts he wrote of his various madcap attempts to slip into other people's high-profile careers ... a lanky, urbane man possessed of boundless energy and perpetual bonhomie became, in 1953, the first and only editor of The Paris Review.
Do you believe in ghosts?
— from As Told at the Explorers Club, 2003
Most acclaimed
Home run
Looking back, everything Dick Bainton said was a lie. But at the time, it was possible to judge. His implausible excuse for turning up at The Millstone, a rambling farmhouse on the way to nowhere just north of Oxford, was to check security fittings. He also claimed no one answered when he rang the bell. But that aside, he offered money. Not directly, but in the form of another student for Miss Quilter's foreign language school -- and one who might help with the unending repair, maintenance and modernisation bills. The only uncertainty seemed to be the prospective student herself, Dick Bainton's fiancee. A Russian migr still apprehensive of the unknown future awaiting her. Needing security. Anonymity. And somewhere to hide. So Kit Quilter filled in the form, accepted a substantial cheque and handed over a receipt. Kit Quilter BA, MSc, Dip RSA, officially enrolled Ludmilla Tolstoya for a four-week course starting on 15 April. Kit Quilter was an idiot, first class. But at the time, how could she possibly have known?
Writers at work
1981
"The Writers at Work series prepares ESL students to tackle academic essay writing. Writers at Work: From Sentence to Paragraph is the lowest level in the Writers at Work series. It uses the same five-step process approach as the higher-level books. However, the approach has been modified to accommodate the lower level of the students. For example, a much greater emphasis is placed on vocabulary and grammar instruction. This enables lower-level students to write short accurate texts on simple topics. In the last three chapters, the book introduces the fundamentals of paragraph writing, and students progress to write basic paragraphs"-- "Writers at Work: From Sentence to Paragraph is the first book in a four-book series that provides students with a solid foundation in writing skills. Through the study of vocabulary and grammar, the book helps students to write accurate sentences relating to a topic. In the last three chapters, the book introduces the fundamentals of paragraph writing, and students progress to write basic paragraphs"--