Conniff, Richard 1951-

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CONNIFF, Richard 1951-

PERSONAL: Born March 2, 1951, in Jersey City, NJ; son of James C. G. (a writer) and Dorothy (a homemaker; maiden name, Donnelly) Conniff; married Karen Braeder (a homemaker), May 23, 1981; children: James, Benjamin. Education: Yale University, B.A., 1973. Religion: Roman Catholic. Hobbies and other interests: Ireland, architectural restoration, Americana, travel.

ADDRESSES: Home—P.O. Box 64, Deep River, CT 06417. Agent—Robert Lescher, 155 E. 71st St., New York, NY 10021.

CAREER: Newark Star-Ledger, Newark, NJ, reporter, 1973-75; freelance writer, 1975-79; Next, New York, NY, senior writer, 1979-81; freelance writer, 1981-83; Geo, New York, NY, managing editor, 1983-85; freelance writer, 1985—. Deep River Book Co., founder.

WRITINGS:

The Devil's Book of Verse: Masters of the Poison Pen from Ancient Times to the Present Day, Dodd, Mead (New York, NY), 1983.

Irish Walls, photographs by Alen MacWeeney, Stewart, Tabori & Chang (New York, NY), 1986.

The Natural History of the Rich: A Field Guide, W. W. Norton (New York, NY), 2002.

Contributor to magazines and newspapers, including National Geographic, Architectural Digest, Audubon, Smithsonian, and Time.

SIDELIGHTS: Richard Conniff once told CA: "I'm interested in propagating audacious speech that is often satirical and usually humorous. I'm also interested in exploring the connections between human beings and the natural world."

Conniff's first book, The Devil's Book of Verse: Masters of the Poison Pen from Ancient Times to the Present Day, is a collection of nearly 400 poems of rude invective and wit, which have delighted critics since the volume appeared in 1983. The contributors are as ancient as Catullus and as contemporary as Dorothy Parker, Ogden Nash, and John Updike. The subjects of the poison pen are as varied as their authors: sex, the family, politics, religion, lawyers, and children are just a few.

Though The Devil's Book of Verse was acclaimed by its reviewers, it was not so well received by the publisher's parent company, a publisher of Bibles. When the author was asked to remove two poems containing an offensive word, Conniff refused, and it appeared that the book might not be distributed at all. The author filed a lawsuit and enlisted the support of such groups as the International PEN and the American Society of Authors and Journalists to fight what they described as an act of censorship. Finally the suit was settled and Conniff received the unsold copies of his book. He established the Deep River Book Company to distribute them and continued his career as a freelance writer.

In 1986 Irish Walls was published. This book, illustrated by the photographs of Alen MacWeeney, developed from Conniff's belief that the thousands of miles of walls dividing Ireland reveal the underlying nature of the Irish landscape and the people who live in it. The volume was described by Harriet Choice in the Chicago Tribune as "a charming and unique travel book."