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Albert Hodges Morehead, Jr. (August 7, 1909 – October 5, 1966) was a writer for ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'', a
bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...
player, a
lexicographer Lexicography is the study of lexicons, and is divided into two separate academic disciplines. It is the art of compiling dictionaries. * Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionaries. * Theoretica ...
, and an author and editor of reference works.


Early years

Morehead was born in Flintstone,
Taylor County, Georgia Taylor County is a county located in the west central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 8,906. The county seat and largest city is Butler. History Taylor County was created on January 15, 1852, by ...
on August 7, 1909, to Albert Hodges Morehead I (1854–1922) and Bianca Noa (1874–1945). Albert senior was a choral conductor. Bianca's brother was
Loveman Noa David Bernard Loveman Noa (5 October 1878 – 26 October 1901) was an officer in the United States Navy. He was killed while on duty in the United States' newly acquired overseas territory of the Philippines. He is the namesake for two United St ...
, the Naval hero. Albert's siblings were: Kerenhappuch Turner Morehead (1905–1907) who died as an infant; and James Turner Morehead (1906–1988). His parents lived in Lexington, Kentucky, but were spending their summer in
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...
at the time of his birth. The family moved to
Chattanooga, Tennessee Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020 ...
, after the death of Albert's father in 1922 in
Baylor County, Texas Baylor County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 3,465. Its county seat is Seymour. History In 1858, the Texas Legislature established Baylor County, naming it for Henry Weidner Baylor, ...
. He attended the
Baylor School Baylor School, commonly called Baylor, is a private, coeducational college-preparatory school in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Founded in 1893, the school currently sits atop a 690-acre campus and enrolls students in grades 6-12, including boarding ...
and later
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
. In 1939, Albert Morehead married Loy Claudon (1910–1970) of Illinois, and the couple had two children: Philip David Morehead (b. 1942) and Andrew Turner Morehead (b. 1940). He was a noted bridge partner of U.S. General
Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...
. Multiple pages with numerous reprints including some secondary sources.
  Quote: Albert Morehead, the six-foot-four, erudite panelist of CBS-TV's new audience participation series, "I'll Buy That", is one of those many-sided geniuses in cosmopolitan New York whose list of vocations and avocations is literally a yard long. He is a book editor, magazine writer, games authority, author, tunesmith, newspaper columnist, lexicographer, businessman, translator, amateur criminologist and a half dozen other lesser things besides.


Journalism

Through high school and college, Morehead worked on the ''Lexington Herald'' (now the ''
Herald-Leader The ''Lexington Herald-Leader'' is a newspaper owned by the McClatchy Company and based in Lexington, Kentucky. According to the ''1999 Editor & Publisher International Yearbook'', the paid circulation of the ''Herald-Leader'' is the second large ...
''), the ''
Chattanooga Times The ''Chattanooga Times Free Press'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper published in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and is distributed in the metropolitan Chattanooga region of southeastern Tennessee and northwestern Georgia. It is one of Tennessee's maj ...
'', the ''
Chicago Daily News The ''Chicago Daily News'' was an afternoon daily newspaper in the midwestern United States, published between 1875 and 1978 in Chicago, Illinois. History The ''Daily News'' was founded by Melville E. Stone, Percy Meggy, and William Doughert ...
'', ''
The Plain Dealer ''The Plain Dealer'' is the major newspaper of Cleveland, Ohio, United States. In fall 2019, it ranked 23rd in U.S. newspaper circulation, a significant drop since March 2013, when its circulation ranked 17th daily and 15th on Sunday. As of Ma ...
'', and the ''Town Crier'' of
Newton, Massachusetts Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is approximately west of downtown Boston. Newton resembles a patchwork of thirteen villages, without a city center. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, the population of Ne ...
. He later worked for ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
''. In 1944 he published 36 articles, under four pseudonyms, in '' Redbook'' magazine, and in 1951 published 29 articles in ''
Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Food and drink * Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo" History * Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953 Hotels and resorts * Cosmopoli ...
magazine. From 1945 to 1947, he was the puzzle and quiz editor for ''
Coronet A coronet is a small crown consisting of ornaments fixed on a metal ring. A coronet differs from other kinds of crowns in that a coronet never has arches, and from a tiara in that a coronet completely encircles the head, while a tiara doe ...
'' magazine and was the consulting editor for games in ''
Esquire magazine ''Esquire'' is an American men's magazine. Currently published in the United States by Hearst Communications, it also has more than 20 international editions. Founded in 1933, it flourished during the Great Depression and World War II under t ...
''. Starting in 1946 he was a consultant to the
United States Playing Card Company The United States Playing Card Company (USPC, though also commonly known as USPCC) is a large American producer and distributor of playing cards. It was established in 1867 as Russell, Morgan & Co. and founded in its current incarnation in 1885. ...
, and he was vice president and general manager of Kem Plastic Playing Cards, Inc. for three years. He was author, co-author or editor of over 60 books, including books on games and puzzles, and a number of reference works, some of which are still in print. He edited
W. Somerset Maugham William Somerset Maugham ( ; 25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965) was an English writer, known for his plays, novels and short stories. Born in Paris, where he spent his first ten years, Maugham was schooled in England and went to a German un ...
's ''Great Novelists and their Novels'' (Winston, 1948) and
Fulton Oursler Charles Fulton Oursler (January 22, 1893 – May 24, 1952) was an American journalist, playwright, editor and writer. Writing as Anthony Abbot, he was an author of mysteries and detective fiction. His son was the journalist and author Will Ou ...
's ''The Greatest Story Ever Told'' (Doubleday, 1949). Finally, he served as Vice-president of the John C. Winston Company, a book publisher, for three years.


Bridge

Bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...
was a lifelong pursuit for Morehead. From 1927 on, he played in bridge tournaments, and in 1932, during the depression he was hired as a writer for
Ely Culbertson Elie Almon Culbertson (July 22, 1891 – December 27, 1955), known as Ely Culbertson, was an American contract bridge entrepreneur and personality dominant during the 1930s. He played a major role in the popularization of the new game and was wide ...
's magazine, ''
The Bridge World ''The Bridge World'' (TBW), the oldest continuously published magazine about contract bridge, was founded in 1929 by Ely Culbertson. It has since been regarded as the game's principal journal, publicizing technical advances in bidding and the pla ...
''. In 1938 he was made editor, and in 1939 he became the general manager of all of Culbertson's bridge publications. In 1934, he won the Charles M. Schwab Trophy, and served as both president and chairman of the board of the American Contract Bridge League. He later wrote ''The New York Times'' bridge column for more than 25 years.


Publications

* * *


Death

Morehead died of cancer in 1966 in
Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
.


Bridge accomplishments


Honors

* ACBL Hall of Fame, Blackwood Award 1996 * ACBL Honorary Member of the Year 1946


Awards

* IBPA Bridge Book of the Year 1966


Wins

* Schwab Cup (1) 1934


Runners-up

*
North American Bridge Championships North American Bridge Championships (NABC) are three annual bridge tournaments sponsored by the American Contract Bridge League (ACBL). The "Spring", "Summer", and "Fall" NABCs are usually scheduled in March, July, and November for about eleven da ...
(1) **
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
(now Reisinger) (1) 1935


References


Literature

* Morehead, Albert and
Geoffrey Mott-Smith The Mott-Smith Trophy, named for writer and cryptographer Geoffrey Mott-Smith, is awarded to the player with the best overall individual performance in the Spring Nationals, the spring event of the American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North Amer ...
(1950). ''Culbertson's Hoyle: The New Encyclopedia of Games, with Official Rules''. Greystone Press.


External links

*
"A Tribute to Albert H. Morehead"
subsite at Phil & Pat Morehead * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Morehead, Albert Hodges 1909 births 1966 deaths American contract bridge players Contract bridge writers American columnists American Presbyterians American magazine editors American book editors The New York Times writers Writers from Georgia (U.S. state) Writers from New York (state) Harvard University alumni People from Manhattan People from Taylor County, Georgia 20th-century American non-fiction writers