George V. Hobart

George Vere Hobart (1867–1926) was a Canadian-American playwright, lyricist, book writer, and humorist who authored more than fifty musical comedy librettos and plays over the course of his career, in addition to novels, children's books, and songs. Born on January 16, 1867, in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada, he later immigrated to Cumberland, Maryland, where he worked as a telegraph operator for the United Press. His Broadway credits span multiple genres and include the musicals The Candy Shop, Alma, Where Do You Live?, and The Darling of the Gallery Gods, as well as the plays The Blue Flame and Experience.

Hobart began building his public profile through journalism, contributing humorous sketches and columns to the Sunday Scimitar and the Baltimore News-American. A brief stint at the New York Journal preceded his full turn toward writing for the stage, fiction, and other literary forms. He also wrote under the pseudonym Hugh McHugh. Early national recognition came through the "Dinkelspiel" letters, a weekly satirical column composed in a German-American dialect that attracted a wide readership. The Library of Congress preserves several of his songs in the National Jukebox.

Among his more prominent stage works, Hobart wrote the morality play Experience and co-wrote Our Mrs. McChesney with Edna Ferber, a production that starred Ethel Barrymore. He also wrote Miss Prinnt, which featured Marie Dressler, and contributed the book to Hitchy-Koo of 1919, which had music by Cole Porter. Additional stage credits include Sonny, Buddies, and Sweet Sixteen. Many of his works were subsequently adapted into films.

Hobart's output extended well beyond the theater. His books include John Henry, Down the Line, Back to the Woods, You Can Search Me, and the 1904 novel Jim Hickey, A Story of the One-Night Stands. The Random House Dictionary of American Slang references Jim Hickey in connection with the word "hip," in the slang sense of being aware or in the know, citing a cartoon by Tad Dorgan in which an African-American character uses the phrase "Are you hip?" Hobart was also a member of the Lambs Club in New York City.

In his personal life, Hobart was married to short-story writer Sarah Humbird De Vries, with whom he had two children. She died in 1923. Hobart died on January 31, 1926, in Cumberland, Maryland, following a general breakdown, at the age of 59.