Well, I suppose I ought to write something in here.
In case you are somehow incapable of reading my displayed name, I am H. L. Mencken. (The "H" and "L" stand for "Henry" and "Louis." My father had smashed some keys; and, well, "H. L." was the best I could do. It stuck, somehow.) I was born on September 12th, 1880, making me far older than this profile suggests. Granted, if one assumes a person is ageless with the arrival of death, I may only be 76. Otherwise, I'm 126, though not for long.
I have lived in Baltimore all my life, and despite having to commute to New York City for work a while, I have never moved. As such, I'm closely tied to the Baltimore Sunpapers, of which there are only appear to be one these days. I had my own column, dubbed the Free Lance columns, though I have been syndicated and published in all sorts of places. I managed to whoop myself up well enough.
One could say I was an influential literary figure. I have met all sorts of characters: Sinclair Lewis, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Theodore Dreiser, Ambrose Bierce, T. S. Eliot, Robert Frost. I've also helped along some newcomers into the work of writing and never hesitated to publish anyone with potential, no matter what gender or race. My long-time friend, George Jean Nathan, worked with me on the Smart Set and can attest to such, at the time, unusual practices.
I imagine a short bibliography is in order:
A Book of Prefaces (1917)
Damn! A Book of Calumny (1918)
The American Language (1919)
Prejudices (1919-1927)
On Politics: A Carnival of Buncombe (1920-1936)
Treatise on the Gods (1930)
Historical matters aside, I am a vehement atheist—or, at least, in print. I am an agnostic, but my perspective is atheistic. Also, I have little regard for evangelists, proud members of the Bible Belt, and all other such mind-controlling mountebanks. Such do-gooders, world savers, and convert mongers need not have anything to do with me, one admittedly damned.
...Perhaps on a lighter and more sociable note, I rather enjoy get-togethers, and I'm certainly a drinker. (Well, as almost the whole lot of writers is a faction of drunkards and drug addicts, I assume that was not a surprise.) I also enjoy tobacco, smoking and chewing; and, I take delight in playing piano and listening to the music of the classical composers, particularly Bach or Brahms or Strauss or...oh. Well. One can look at that thing on the left for my musical tastes.
In all events everyone reading this should by now have some vague impression of me. I welcome conversation, especially from ladies—as every honest man knows, woman is the far more sensible sex.
