Tart-tongued wit and prolific writer of reviews, poetry, short stories, plays, screenplays and song lyrics who is best remembered for clever short verses like "Men seldom make passes/At girls who wear glasses". A founding member of the legendary Algonquin Hotel "roundtable" of wits and swells that thrived in the 1920s, Parker was an unpredictable, often self-destructive, obsessive woman who nonetheless managed to carve out a remarkable career in American letters. A political activist, she was a lifelong supporter of society's underdogs. She helped organize the Screenwriters Guild, covered the
