Jerome K. Jerome
A Victorian humorist who turned the minor misadventures of three hapless friends on the Thames into a timeless comedy of English character.
1859–1927 (age 68)·English writer and humorist·Birthday: May 2
Biography
Jerome K. Jerome approached life with the wry, beleaguered optimism of a man perpetually expecting the worst and finding it funny. Born in Walsall to a family often in financial straits, he left school at fourteen, working as a railway clerk, a schoolteacher, and an actor—a series of false starts that fed his understanding of life's absurdities. His breakthrough came not with lofty prose but with 'Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow,' a collection of essays that championed the art of cheerful loafing. Then, in 1889, he published 'Three Men in a Boat,' a fictionalized account of a boating holiday peppered with digressions and comic disasters. The book was a sensation, capturing the essence of middle-class leisure and male friendship with such precise, gentle humor that it has never been out of print. Though he wrote plays, novels, and sequels, he remained forever defined by that one perfect river journey, a writer who proved that the simplest pleasures make the best stories.
#1 When Jerome Was Born
The biggest hits of 1859
Jerome's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1859Born
1864Started school
President: Abraham Lincoln
1872Became a teenager
President: Ulysses S. Grant
1875Could drive
President: Ulysses S. Grant
1877Could vote
President: Rutherford B. Hayes
1880Turned 21
Edison patents the incandescent light bulb
President: Rutherford B. Hayes
1889Turned 30
Eiffel Tower opens in Paris
President: Benjamin Harrison
1899Turned 40
President: William McKinley
1909Turned 50
Robert Peary claims to reach the North Pole
President: William Howard Taft
1919Turned 60
Treaty of Versailles signed; Prohibition ratified
President: Woodrow Wilson
1927Died at 68
Lindbergh flies solo across the Atlantic; The Jazz Singer premieres
President: Calvin Coolidge"My Blue Heaven" — Gene Austin
Key Achievements
- Wrote 'Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog)', one of the most enduringly popular works of English comic literature.
- Founded and co-edited the influential magazine The Idler, promoting a literary culture of humor and leisure.
- Authored the successful play 'The Passing of the Third Floor Back' in 1908, a dramatic departure from his comic style.
- Published the bestselling essay collection 'Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow' which established his literary voice.
Did You Know?
His middle name, 'Klapka', was given in honor of a Hungarian exile and family friend, General György Klapka.
He served as an ambulance driver for the French army during World War I, despite being in his fifties.
A early manuscript of 'Three Men in a Boat' was reportedly used by his wife to light a fire.
He once cycled from London to Brighton and back on a tandem tricycle with his wife.
“It is impossible to enjoy idling thoroughly unless one has plenty of work to do.”
