Paul Benjamin Lowney (March 25, 1917 – May 12, 2007) was a Seattle-based author and

humorist A humorist (American) or humourist (British spelling) is an intellectual who uses humor, or wit, in writing or public speaking, but is not an artist who seeks only to elicit laughs. Humorists are distinct from comedians, who are show business e ...

. He wrote 29 books and three comic strips, most mixing

humor Humour (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) or humor (American English) is the tendency of experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement. The term derives from the humorism, humoral medicine of the ancient Gre ...

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

, and whimsical illustrations by his frequent collaborator Frank Renlie. '' Saturday Review'' described his work by saying, "Sometimes Lowney makes you think and then laugh; and sometimes he makes you laugh and then think." He also authored non-fiction works on Seattle and his experiences growing up in Butte during the 1930s.

Biography

Paul Lowney was born and raised in

Butte, Montana Butte ( ) is a consolidated city-county and the county seat of Silver Bow County, Montana, United States. In 1977, the city and county governments consolidated to form the sole entity of Butte-Silver Bow. The city covers , and, according to the ...

, fourth and youngest child of

Lithuanian Jewish Lithuanian Jews or Litvaks () are Jews with roots in the territory of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania (covering present-day Lithuania, Belarus, Latvia, the northeastern Suwałki and Białystok regions of Poland, as well as adjacent areas o ...

parents. He graduated from Butte High School and the University of Montana-Missoula, where he majored in sociology and

. In Seattle, he took graduate studies in

at the University of Washington. During World War II he served three years in the U.S. Army as an overseas field correspondent for '' Yank, the Army Weekly''. After leaving the Army in Virginia, he became a staff writer for the

American Red Cross The American Red Cross (ARC), also known as the American National Red Cross, is a non-profit humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. It is the desi ...

at their national headquarters in Washington, D.C. He moved back to Seattle and worked as a civilian information officer for the Army and then the Navy. During this time he was commissioned a First Lieutenant, Military Intelligence, in the Army Reserve. Later, under contract to '' The Seattle Times'', he wrote a weekly humor feature for 11 years and also authored several pieces for national magazines. He also founded Lowney Advertising and Crown & Lurie Publishers, both based in Seattle.

Writing career

In his senior year at Butte High School, Paul Lowney wrote a humor column for his school paper, ''The Mountaineer'', and wrote humor ever after. Someone asked him how he happened to get into writing and he said, “When I was eight, I found a small pencil in my Cracker Jack box and I didn't want to throw it away.” His humor appeared in ''

Parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, float (parade), floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually ce ...

'', '' Saturday Review'', '' Reader's Digest'', and in scores of newspapers through his syndication with the

Los Angeles Times Syndicate The ''Los Angeles Times'' Syndicate was a print syndication service that operated from 1949 to 2000. Owned by the Times Mirror Company, it also operated the ''Los Angeles Times'' Syndicate International; together the two divisions sold more than ...

Copley News Service Copley Press was a privately held newspaper business, founded in Illinois, but later based in La Jolla, California. Its flagship paper was ''The San Diego Union-Tribune''. History Founder Ira Clifton Copley launched Copley Press c. 1905, eventu ...

, and the

Pacific Media Group The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

. For 11 years, his humor panel, ''Gleeb'', appeared in '' The Seattle Times''. His hardback humor books issued by

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

publishers include ''Gleeb'', ''The Big Book of Gleeb'', ''Offbeat Humor'', ''The Best of Offbeat Humor'', and ''The Love Game''. His non-fiction book, ''At Another Time — Growing up in Butte'', is in its ninth printing.

Bibliography

Books

* ''At Another Time: Growing up in Butte, with Seattle Supplement'', ninth edition,

hardcover A hardcover, hard cover, or hardback (also known as hardbound, and sometimes as case-bound) book is one bound with rigid protective covers (typically of binder's board or heavy paperboard covered with buckram or other cloth, heavy paper, or occa ...

(2007) * ''Especially for Bright People: A Book of Humor and Think'' (2006) * ''Ergo1: A Classic Little Book of Thoughts & Laughter'' (2002) * ''The Love and Dating Game'' (2002) * ''At Another Time: Growing up in Butte, with Seattle Supplement'' (2002) * ''At Another Time: Growing up in Butte'' (2000) * ''Little Lessons from Life, My Professors & My Jewish Mother'' (1999) * ''Toads'' (1997) * ''The Best in Offbeat Humor II: An eclectic work'' (1996) * ''The Pocket Gleeb'' (1991) * ''The Love Game'' (1988) * ''The Best of Gleeb'' (1982) * ''Gleeb VI: The best "Gleebs" from the Seattle Times'' (1981) * ''Gleeb V'' (1978) * ''Gleeb IV'' (1976) * ''The Big Book of Gleeb'' (1975) * ''Seattle: The nation's most beautiful city'' (1973) * ''Gleeb'' (1973) * ''Seattle, nation's most beautiful city'' (1968) * ''The Best of Offbeat Humor'' (1968) * ''No charge for dreaming'' (1966) * ''The world's funniest offbeat humor'' (1965) * ''No charge for dreaming: An unusual little book of sense, nonsense and laughter'' (1963) * ''Scenic Seattle'' (1962) * ''Offbeat Humor'' (1962) * ''Seattle: The nation's most beautiful city'' (1961) * ''This is Hydroplaning'' (1959) * ''Washington, America's most scenic state'' (1957) * ''I'm at North Fort Lewis'' (1954)

Comic Strips

* ''Toads'' (1997), weekly strip * ''Gleeb'' (1981–85), weekly panel syndicated by the

and

* ''The Pookas'' (1977–78), weekly strip

External links

Butte High School paper, ''The Mountaineer''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lowney, Paul B. 1917 births 2007 deaths 20th-century American Jews 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers American humorists American male non-fiction writers Butte High School (Butte, Montana) alumni Jewish American non-fiction writers People from Butte, Montana University of Montana alumni University of Washington College of Arts and Sciences alumni Writers from Seattle