The Resume

(April 24, 1899-January 28, 1986)
Born in Lebanon, Indiana
Birth name was John Allen Saunders
Reporter and drama critic for the Toledo News-Bee
Writer for the comic strips ‘Mary Worth,’ ‘Steve Roper,’ and ‘Kerry Drake’

Why he might be annoying:

‘Steve Roper’ started as ‘Chief Wahoo’ and drew much of its humor from stereotypes. He later admitted, ‘If we were doing Chief Wahoo today, we'd have problems.’
He hated when ‘Mary Worth’ was described as a ‘soap opera,’ insisting it was an ‘adventure strip’ since it was based on conflict, albeit emotional conflict instead of physical.
His formula for creating plots: ‘First act, get your leading character up a tree; second act, throw rocks at him; third act, get him down.’
One of his hobbies was golf ‘which I play badly but hopefully.’

Why he might not be annoying:

He was known for writing fast-moving stories with literate dialogue.
The artist for ‘Kerry Drake,’ Alfred Andriola, insisted on receiving sole credit for the strip.
He stopped writing for ‘Kerry Drake’ after Andriola won the Reuben Award for Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year (1970) and did not thank him for his contribution.
He noted that 90% of the fan mail for ‘Steve Roper’ came from men, while 90% of the fan mail for ‘Mary Worth’ came from women.
He coined the line ‘Life is what happens to us while we are making other plans’ (in a 1957 issue of ‘Reader’s Digest’), which, slightly modified, was popularized by John Lennon in the song ‘Beautiful Boy.’

Credit: C. Fishel

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

• C. Fishel's Profiles [Series 78]
• I am a Hoosier [Indiana]
• I Attended University of Chicago
• I Died in 1986 (Ranked: 86)
• Known By a Middle Name
• Male Pipe Smokers
• Newspaper Journalists/Editors/Publishers
• Profiles 47501-47750 (Ranked: 47511)
• We Died on the Same Day (Ranked: 19860128)

Year In Review:

In 2023, Out of 4 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
In 2022, Out of 6 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
In 2021, Out of 9 Votes: 88.89% Annoying