Bert Leston Taylor (1866-1921) was an American newspaper columnist, humorist, and poet, best known by his initials "B.L.T." He was born in Massachusetts and worked as a journalist across several Midwestern papers before settling into the role that made him famous: writing a daily column for the Chicago Tribune called "A Line o' Type or Two," which he conducted from 1901 until his death, with an interruption around 1903-1910 when he worked in New York. The column mixed light verse, epigrams, satirical commentary on current events, and contributions from readers, and it became one of the most influential and imitated newspaper features of its era, helping establish the "columnist" as a literary figure in American journalism. Taylor cultivated a witty, urbane persona and used the column to promote young or unknown writers alongside seasoned humorists, giving many aspiring poets and wits their first public exposure. He also wrote for Puck and other humor magazines and produced several books collecting his verse and prose, including "The Wisdom of Fools," "The Well in the Wood," "A Line o' Verse or Two," and "The Log of the Water Wagon." He was closely associated with the Chicago literary renaissance of the early twentieth century, socializing with figures such as Eugene Field, whose own newspaper column had been an early model for Taylor's work. Taylor's writing was prized for its light touch, playful erudition, and gentle satire rather than for weighty literary ambition, and he remains a representative figure of the golden age of American newspaper humor columns. He died in Chicago in 1921.
1 works on Textopian