Gilbert Seldes

Gilbert Vivian Seldes was an American journalist, music and drama critic, author and playwright. A native of Alliance, New Jersey, and a Harvard graduate, Seldes is best remembered as the author of "The Seven Lively Arts" (1924). While at Harvard, his roommate, Irving Pichel, wagered one dollar that he could memorize the full text of Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice" faster than Seldes could. Pichel managed the feat in seven days, two days longer than it had taken Seldes. As a young man, Seldes worked as a critic, columnist and a war correspondent for papers in Philadelphia and New York. He was also remembered for his books "The Public Arts" and "The Great Audience" and for his translation of Aristophanes' "Lysistrata". Seldes was additionally the author of several murder mysteries under the pen name Foster James. His book "The Seven Lively Arts" would the inspire a 1953 radio show by the same name (that he hosted) and the television series The Seven Lively Arts (1957). Later