Patrick Dennis | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Born | Edward Everett Tanner III May 18, 1921 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
Died | November 6, 1976 New York City, U.S. | (aged 55)
Other names | Virginia Rowans |
Education | Evanston Township High School |
Occupation(s) | Author, Butler |
Spouse |
Louise Stickney
(m. 1948–1976) |
Children | 2 |
Edward Everett Tanner III (18 May 1921 – 6 November 1976), known by the pseudonym Patrick Dennis, was an American author. His novel Auntie Mame: An irreverent escapade (1955) was one of the bestselling American books of the 20th century.[1] In chronological vignettes, the narrator — also named Patrick — recalls his adventures growing up under the wing of his madcap aunt, Mame Dennis. Tanner wrote a sequel, titled Around the World with Auntie Mame, in 1958. He based the character of Mame Dennis on his father's sister, Marion Tanner.[2] Tanner also wrote several novels under the pseudonym Virginia Rowans.
"I write in the first person, but it is all fictional. The public assumes that what seems fictional is fact; so the way for me to be inventive is to seem factual but be fictional."[3] All of Tanner's novels employ to some degree the traditional comic devices of masks, subterfuge and deception.
Rudnick
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).