Ring Lardner
Inducted 1986
sports journalist and author
Ring Lardner (1885-1933) won fame as a sports reporter and as an author of humorous short stories. A native of Niles, Ringgold Wilmer Lardner began working as a reporter for the South Bend Times, then became a sports reporter for newspapers in Chicago, Boston and St. Louis. From 1913 to 1919, Lardner conducted a well-known sports column in the Chicago Tribune called “In the Wake of the News.” One critic called the overall quality of his column one of “the extraordinary accomplishments of American journalism.” Lardner brought humor, creativity and felicity of style to the press. His work provided a lasting commentary on his ear and set an example for younger writers. Lardner showed that a skilled journalist could provide insight, analysis and understanding of events. In addition to his career as a journalist, Lardner wrote plays teaming with such notables as George M. Cohan and George S. Kaufman. Alternately known as a sports writer, fiction writer, humorist or journalist, he left a lasting mark on American literature.