Christopher Morley - Literary Connections

Literary Connections

• Morley was a close friend of Don Marquis, author of the Archy and Mehitabel stories featuring the antics and commentary of a New York cockroach and a cat. In 1924 Morley and Marquis co-authored Pandora Lifts The Lid, a light novel about the well-to-do in contemporary Hamptons. They are said to have written alternate chapters, each taking the plot forward from where the other had left off.
• Morley's widow sold a collection of his personal papers and books to the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin after his death.
• Morley helped to found the Baker Street Irregulars, dedicated to the study of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes.
• Morley edited two editions of Bartlett's Familiar Quotations: 1937 (11th) and 1948 (12th.)
• Morley's 1939 novel Kitty Foyle was unusual for its time, as it openly discussed abortion. It became an instant best-seller, selling over one million copies.
• Morley's brothers Felix and Frank were also Rhodes Scholars. Felix became President of Haverford College.
• In 1942 Morley wrote his own obituary for the biographical dictionary Twentieth Century Authors.