H. L. Mencken

Henry Louis "H. L." Mencken was an American journalist, essayist, magazine editor, satirist, acerbic critic of American life and culture, and a student of American English. Mencken, known as the “Sage of Baltimore;&rdquo, is regarded as one of the most influential American writers and prose stylists of the first half of the 20th century.

Peter W. Dowell teaches English and American Studies at Emory University. He received his B.A. from Princeton University and his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota.