Boston-born (1866) humorist Gelett Burgess graduated from the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1887, and secured employment
as a draftsman for the Southern Pacific Railroad. Three years later he
became an instructor in topographical drawing at the University of
California. In 1894, however, he made an almost complete 180-degree
change from the staid, stable work of drafting and technical drawing to
become editor of the humor magazine "Wave" and the next year he became
editor of "Lark", a quirky, edgy (for the times) humor magazine. It was
there that his famous quatrain--often wrongly attributed to
Ogden Nash--"The Purple Cows" appeared: "I
never saw a purple cow / I never hope to see one / But I can tell you
anyhow / I'd rather see than be one". The magazine also featured his
drawings of bizarre, badly behaving creatures called "Goops", which
caught on with the public. He wrote a series of books filled with his
humorous observations on life in general and the battle of the sexes.
He died in Carmel, California, on September 18, 1951.