THE ROUND TABLE’S LEGACY

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STANDING OUTSIDE THE LEGENDARY ALGONQUIAN HOTEL IN MIDTOWN MANHATTAN.

HOW DOES IT FACTOR IN?

ALGONQUIAN, IT'S THE CORNERSTONE OF THEIR FOUNDATION AND ONE OF LITERARY LEGACY.

LET'S GO INSIDE.

WE'RE AT THE ALGONQUIAN HOTEL.

JOINING ME IS KEVIN FITZPATRICK.

SITTING AT THIS LEGENDARY SPOT.

WHAT CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT THE ALGONQUIAN ROUND TABLE?

RIGHT AFTER WORLD WAR I, A GROUP OF FOLKS STARTED MEETING FOR LUNCH SIX DAYS A WEEK, SEVEN OR EIGHT YEARS.

ABOUT 16 PEOPLE AROUND THE TABLE.

WOULD HAVE A WONDERFUL TIME CRACKING JOKES, TALKING ABOUT THE NEWS AND LATEST STORIES.

WHAT THEY SAID WAS USUALLY REPORTED IN NEXT DAY'S NEWSPAPERS.

HAD 20 DAILIES AT THE TIME.

SO COLUMNISTS WERE REPEATING WHAT WAS SAID AROUND THE TABLE.

99 YEARS BEFORE TWITTER, WHAT WAS SAID AT ROUND TABLE WAS GOING TO GO COAST-TO-COAST RIGHT AWAY.

TALK ABOUT THE PEOPLE THAT SAT HERE.

WAS IT OFFICIAL?

HOW DID IT START?

WHAT WOULD THEY TALK ABOUT?

SURE.

ROOTS OF THE ROUND TABLE ARE IN PARIS.

MANY OF THE MEMBERS WERE IN FRANCE IN WORLD WAR I.

WHEN THE WAR ENDED, WELCOME BACK LUNCHEON FOR ALEXANDER WOLCOTT, THE CHIEF DRAMATIC CRITIC FOR THE 'NEW YORK TIMES.'

HAD A WELCOME BACK TO NEW YORK GET TOGETHER FOR HIM AND INVITED CREAM OF THE CROP OF THE WRITERS AND COLUMNISTS AND BROADWAY FOLKS.

WHO WAS COMING WERE PEOPLE ASSOCIATED WITH 'VANITY FAIR' AND VOGUE AND 'NEW YORK TIMES' AND 'NEW YORK WORLD' AND 'NEW YORK TRIBUNE' TALKING ABOUT WHAT THEY WERE WORKING ON AND WHAT THEY HAD SEEN, A BIGGER THEATER SCENE.

LOT TO TALK ABOUT.

ANY THAT JUMPED OUT TO YOU?

FAVORITES?

SURE.

YOU'RE SITTING IN ROBERT SHERWOOD'S SEAT.

WON FOUR PULITZER PRIZES SO MAYBE THE MOJO WCOME OUT.

FAVORITES ARE DOROTHY PARKER FROM THE UPPER WEST SIDE, POET, WRITER, CRITIC.

ROBERT BENCHLEY AND FRANK ROBERTS FROM CHICAGO.

HE WAS IMPORTANT COLUMNIST, PUBLISHING CONTRIBUTIONS FROM FUTURE ALL-STARS, THURBER, MILL LAY, PARKER.

HE WAS GIVING THEM A LEG UP.

A FEW OF THE MORE THAN 30 MEMBERS THAT STARTED COMING HERE.

WHAT IS IT ABOUT DOROTHY PARKER THAT ATTRACTS YOU SO MUCH TO HER CHARACTER?

LIKE A LOT OF PEOPLE, WHY I'M DRAWN TO PARKER, WAS A REALLY GREAT NEW YORKER AND AHEAD OF HER TIME, KIND OF A REBEL.

I LIKED THAT ABOUT HER.

AND -- WAS ALSO PART OF IT AS WELL?

HAROLD ROSS WAS -- JANE GRANT FOUNDED NEW YORKER RIGHT HERE.

ROSS AND GRANT MET IN PARIS, HE WAS WITH 'STARS AND STRIPES' SHE WAS VOLUNTEER.

THEY MET, CAME BACK TO NEW YORK AND GOT MARRIED.

BANKED ONE SALARY AND GOT BY ON THE OTHER.

GOAL TO LAUNCH MAGAZINE.

SAID WE HAVE EDITORIAL BOARD, PARKER, CONNOLLY AND ADAMS.

THEY HAD NO INTENTION OF WORKING FOR ROSS.

THOUGHT HE WAS KIND OF A FOOL BUT ENDED UP WRITING FOR HIM.

IT WAS THAT KIND OF PUSH FROM THE GROUP THAT GOT THE MAGAZINE OFF THE GROUND IN 1925.

WITHOUT THIS ROUND TABLE, NEW YORKER TLT WOULDN'T BE WHAT IT IS?

NOT WITHOUT THE ALGONQUIAN ROUND TABLE.

HE CAME TO NEW YORK WAS NOBODY AND CONNECTIONS MADE IN THE ROOM GOT THE MAGAZINE OFF THE GROUND.

DOING FANTASTIC, JUST WON A PULITZER PRIZE LAST MONTH.

ALL ATTRIBUTED TO THE FOLKS WHO MET IN THIS ROOM.

THIS IS 99 YEARS AGO, YOU THINK 20 YEARS AGO YOU MIGHT NOT B IMAGINE WHAT THE WORLD IS NOW AND INFLUENCE SOMEONE MIGHT HAVE ON IT.

HOW DOES THIS STILL INFLUENCE POPULAR CULTURE TODAY?

YOU SEE ECHOS OF THEM IN OTHER WRITERS.

DAVID SEDARIS, TINA FEY, NORA EFRON, THEY HAVE THE DNA OF THE ALGONQUIAN ROUND TABLE IN THEM.

IF ANYONE WAS GOING TO TAKE ONE THING, SOMETHING NOTABLE ABOUT THIS ROUND TABLE, THE PEOPLE THAT SAT HERE, THIS HOTEL, WHAT IS THAT THING YOU WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW ABOUT IT?

IF THERE'S ONE THING YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THE ROUND TABLE IS NOT JUST WITTY THINGS THEY SAID.

THEY WROTE SOME FANTASTIC, TIMELESS PIECES.

EDNA FERBER WROTE 'SHOWBOAT' THE FIRST BIG MUSICAL.

HERMAN MANKIEWICZ, EXPERIENCE GAVE HIM THE BACKGROUND TO WRITE 'CITIZEN KANE,' THEY WENT ON TO CREATE REALLY GOOD WORK.

SOMEWHERE SOMEONE IS PERFORMING GEORGE F. KAUFMAN PLAY.

SOMEONE IS DOING 'THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER,' 'THE ROYAL FAMILY' THEY LEFT THIS REALLY GREAT LEGACY OF WRITING.