Will Rogers Treasury

This is an entertaining collection of top columns by U.S. humorist Will Rogers (1879-1935) published between 1922 and 1935. This famous Oklahoma native is increasingly forgotten today, but he was once the foremost humorist/entertainer of his day, not to mention an important political voice in print and on the radio. Mr. Rogers critiques the nation's and the world's problems with a readable combination of wit, humor and serious critique. I particularly like his humorous way of going after stuffed shirts, big shots, and politicians, delivered with such good-natured wit that he keeps you smiling. His comment that he never met a man he disliked seems naïve in a world where people like Hitler and Stalin were rising, but his writing reflects much realistic suspicion. Editors Bryan and Francis Sterling provide brief narratives of the world stage for each year (1922-1935), and Roger's last columns cover his plane trip to Alaska, where tragically he and aviator Wiley Post died in a crash near the town of Barrow.