Finley Peter Dunne - Mr. Dooley, Margaret Abbott, Other Famous or Interesting Quotes from Finley Peter Dunne, Works

Journalist and humorist, born in Chicago, Illinois, USA. As a Chicago journalist he created the fictional Mr Dooley (1892), a garrulous Irish bar keeper whose rogue commentaries on current events were nationally syndicated and reprinted in eight volumes (1898–1919). He moved to New York (1900) and was associated with Collier's, American Magazine and the socialist Metropolitan, before retiring in 1927.

He wrote Mr. Dooley in Peace and War in 1898. Set in a South Side Chicago Irish pub, Mr. Dooley, the owner and bartender, would expound upon political and social issues of the day, using the thick verbiage and accent of an Irish immigrant. Dunne's sly humor and political acumen won the support of President Theodore Roosevelt, a frequent target of Mr. Dooley's barbs.

Peter Finley Dunne was born in Chicago on July 10, 1867. He was educated in the Chicago public schools (graduating from high school last in his class), then began his newspaper career in Chicago as a newspaper reporter/editor for the Chicago Telegram in 1884, at age 17. He was then with the Chicago News 1884-88, Chicago Times 1888, Chicago Tribune 1889, Chicago Herald 1889, Chicago Journal 1897. Originally named Peter Dunne, to honor his mother, who had died when he was in high school, he took her family name as his middle name some time before 1886, going by PF Dunne, reversed the two names in 1888, for Finley P. His sister, Amelia Dunne Hookway, was a prominent educator and high school principal in Chicago;

Mr. Dooley

The first Dooley articles appeared when he was chief editorial writer for the Chicago Post and for a number of years he wrote the pieces without a byline or initials.

In 1899, under the title Mr Dooley in Peace and War, a collection of the pieces was brought out in book form, received rave reviews from the critics, and was on the best seller list for a year.

Selections from Dooley were read at meetings of the presidential cabinet.

Dunne wrote more than 700 Dooley pieces. He left Chicago after Dooley became popular and lived in New York where he wrote books and articles and edited the American Magazine, Metropolitan Magazine and Collier's Weekly, and was a beloved figure in club and literary circles.

Margaret Abbott

His wife, Margaret Abbott, was the daughter of the Chicago Tribune's book reviewer, Mary Ives Abbott, a newspaper woman and novelist who associated with the prominent families of the time in Chicago-the Potter Palmers, the Chatfield-Taylors, etc.

Margaret Abbott was one of the first women golfers, having begun play in 1897 as a member of the prestigious Chicago Golf Club in Wheaton, Illinois.

On December 10, 1902, Margaret Ives Abbott was married to Dunne at her mother's home in New York.

Other Famous or Interesting Quotes from Finley Peter Dunne

(Translated from the Irish brogue into modern English)

Made popular by Forrest Gump: "If you go to the zoo, always take something to feed the animals, even if the signs say 'Do Not Feed Animals'. It wasn't the animals that put them signs up."

Works

Mr. Dooley in Peace and in War (1898) Mr. Dooley in the Hearts of His Countrymen (1899) Mr. Dooley's Philosophy (1900) Mr. Dooley's Opinions (1901) Observations by Mr. Dooley (1902) Dissertations by Mr. Dooley (1906) Mr. Dooley Says (1910) Mr. Dooley on Making a Will and Other Necessary Evils (1919)