Damon Runyon

Damon Runyon was born in Manhattan, Kansas in 1880 and spent most of his youth in Pueblo, Colorado. Runyon began to work at his family newspaper business and then branched out to writing for other newspapers in the Rocky Mountain area. Runyon fought in the Spanish-American War around the turn of the century, and in 1910, he moved to NYC. Runyon worked as a sports journalist, writing primarily about baseball and boxing. In addition to his journalism, Runyon is best known for his short stories, 20 of which were made into films. Runyon also wrote plays and poems. Runyon died in 1946 at age 66 of throat cancer.