Franklin P. Adams - (1881 - 1960)

Known as "F.P.A," Franklin P. Adams is considered the father of the Algonquin Round Table. Many Round Table bon mots ended up in his newspaper column, "The Conning Tower," which spanned thirty years and three newspapers. Described as the "cigar-smoking, pool-playing little gargoyle with the long neck, the big nose and the bushy mustache," F.P.A. could spin out a column on almost any subject, from card games and hatcheck girls to his wife's salad dressing (he approved of the former and not the latter two).

F.P.A. once escorted George and Beatrice Kaufman to a cocktail party where Beatrice, sitting down on a cane-bottom chair, suddenly broke through the seat and sank to the floor. Adams secured her humiliation by remarking, "I've told you a hundred times, Beatrice, that's not funny!"