Arthur Watterson Hoppe (April 23, 1925 – February 1, 2000) was a popular columnist for the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. de ...

'' for more than 40 years. He was known for satirical and allegorical columns that skewered the self-important. Many columns featured whimsical characters such as expert-in-all-things Homer T. Pettibone and a presidential candidate named Nobody. Occasionally, Hoppe reined in his humor for poignant columns on serious topics, such as "To Root Against Your Country," a noted 1971 column against the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

Career

Hoppe began at the ''Chronicle'' as a copy boy in 1949 and was promoted to reporter before beginning his own column. As a reporter, he scooped other papers by skiing out with a photographer to the ''

City of San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

'' train when it became snowbound in the Sierra in January 1952. At the peak of its popularity, Hoppe's column appeared in the ''Chronicle'' five days a week and was syndicated in more than 100 newspapers nationwide. His close friends included fellow columnists

Russell Baker Russell Wayne Baker (August 14, 1925 – January 21, 2019) was an American journalist, narrator, writer of Pulitzer Prize-winning satirical commentary and self-critical prose, and author of Pulitzer Prize-winning autobiography '' Growing Up'' (1 ...

and

Art Buchwald Arthur Buchwald (October 20, 1925 – January 17, 2007) was an American humorist best known for his column in ''The Washington Post''. At the height of his popularity, it was published nationwide as a syndicated column in more than 500 newspaper ...

. Hoppe received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the

National Society of Newspaper Columnists National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

in 1996. On his own initiative, he released fellow Chronicle columnist

Herb Caen Herbert Eugene Caen (; April 3, 1916 February 1, 1997) was a San Francisco humorist and journalist whose daily column of local goings-on and insider gossip, social and political happenings, and offbeat puns and anecdotes—"A continuous love let ...

from a mutual vow to accept a special 1996 Pulitzer Prize. He died from complications of lung cancer in February 2000, aged 74, survived by his wife Gloria and four children.

Publications

*''The Love Everybody* Crusade (* Except Antarcticans)'' (Doubleday, 1963) *''Dreamboat'', novel (Doubleday, 1964) *''Our San Francisco'', contributor with

Kenneth Rexroth Kenneth Charles Marion Rexroth (1905–1982) was an American poet, translator, and critical essayist. He is regarded as a central figure in the San Francisco Renaissance, and paved the groundwork for the movement. Although he did not consider h ...

& others (Diablo Press 1964) *''The Perfect Solution to Absolutely Everything'' (Doubleday, 1968) *''Mr Nixon, and My Other Problems'' (Chronicle Books, 1971) *''Miss Lollipop and the Doom Machine'', novel (Doubleday, 1973) *''Tiddling Tennis'' (Viking, 1977) *''The Marital Arts'' (Arbor House, 1985) *''Humor, Hope, and Humanity's Future'' (Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, 1987) *''Having a Wonderful Time: My First Half Century as a News Paper Man'', memoir (Chronicle Books 1995) *''Above San Francisco'', photography by Robert Cameron (Cameron & Co., 1998) According to an obituary he also wrote two plays, including ''The Endless Autumn''.White, Melvin Robert (1993)
''Mel White's Readers Theatre Anthology: Twenty-eight All-Occasion Readings for Storytellers''
.

References

External links

Obituary
in the ''San Francisco Chronicle''
National Society of Newspaper Columnists Hall of Fame
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoppe, Art 1925 births 2000 deaths 20th-century American journalists American columnists Deaths from cancer in California Deaths from lung cancer History of San Francisco South of Market, San Francisco San Francisco Chronicle people 20th-century American non-fiction writers

Career

Publications

References

Further reading

External links