George Ames Plimpton - 1927
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I. Biography George Ames Plimpton was born in New York City on March 18, 1927. He was the oldest of four children. His parents were Francis T P. and Pauline Ames Plimpton.
He had two brothers and a sister. He attended Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire, wrote for the school newspaper, the Exonian, and
graduate in 1944. After the academy he went on to Harvard, majoring in English, and editing the Harvard Lampoon. From 1945 to 1948 he served in the army and was a part time
tank diver in Italy. He was advanced from a private to a lieutenant. Between Harvard and the army he went on to study at Kings College in Cambridge, England. There, he was
awarded his B.A. degree in 1952 and his M.A. in 1954. During a vacation from Cambridge in 1952 he visited Paris and joined some friends to
discuss creating a literary magazine. They ended up releasing a magazine called the Paris Review in which Plimpton became the editor in chief of it in 1953. Much of the editing of the
magazine is still done today in his Manhattan apartment. Plimpton was also an instructor a Banard College from 1956 to 1958. In 1959, he boxed light
heavyweight champion, Archie Moore. Plimpton then had an idea for an article in Sports Illustrated in 1961. Plimpton would pitch to eight hitters from each league before a
post-season exhibition game at Yankee Stadium. From his experience, he wrote the article and a book. In 1963, he wanted to be on a professional football team and the Detroit Lions
eventually gave him player status and in his debut as a quarterback he lost 29 yards in five plays. Out of this experience, he also wrote a famous book. In 1962, 1968, to the present,
Plimpton, has had small parts in TV shows and movies. For a more recent example, he appeared in the movie Good Will Hunting (1997). Around 1968, he had another idea for an article for Sports Illustrated
which also separately turned into a book. Plimpton enrolled himself as an amateur golfer in three West Coast tournaments. About the same year after the golfing experience he signed on as a
percussionist with the New York Philharmonic and was tutored by Saul Goodman in certain percussion instruments. Plimpton has always been involved in encouraging new writers
and that was what his magazine was all about. So, "…in 1966 he secured a grant of $55,000 from the National Foundation on the Arts and Humanities to finance an annual anthology
of the best material from American literary periodicals as selected by Plimpton and several other judges"(Current Biography 1969, 344).
Plimpton was a Democrat and a good friend of the Kennedy family. After the president's death he helped Jacqueline Kennedy on the oral history project for the John F. Kennedy
Memorial Library. Plimpton was a recipient of the Distinguished Achievement Award of the University of Southern California. In 1968, he was an author honored at the George Polk Memorial Journalism Award luncheon. II. Current Information There is a nice article all about George Plimpton that gives a lot more detailed recent information at
For the summary, George Plimpton is about six feet four inches tall and weighs about 190
lbs. He has blue eyes and brown hair. The article depicts him as a family man. He had twin daughters at the age of 67 with his second wife Sarah Plimpton. Plimpton, at the time of the
article, which was May 6, 1999, was 72 years old. He never made a salary off the magazine Paris Review founded in 1953. The magazine is about to come out with or has come out with its 150th
issue. He writes all the books and does the other work to pay for his life. Also, in this article, he is said to be a cultural bridge to the 21st Century. George Plimpton is also a devoted ornithologist. III. Literary Works He writes regularly for Sports Illustrated, gentlemen's Quarterly, Smart Magazine, Esquire, and other publications. Rabbit's Umbrella 1956 IV. Detailed Interview In this site, Fiction and America, you will find answers to all the questions you might have about George Plimpton at
Out of My League 1961
Paper Lion 1966
The Bogey Man 1968
Fireworks 1984
Open Net 1985
The Curious Case of Sidd Finch 1987
The Best of Plimpton 1990
The Norton Book of Sports 1992
V. Contact Plimpton Address of the Paris Review through which he could be possibly contacted VI. Bibliography Fiction and America [Online] Available "George Ames Plimpton.
" Current Biography. 1969 ed. This essay was submitted by a student of Marylin Dykens, a teacher at Rome Free Academy in Rome, New York.
b. Paris Review, Inc. 45-39 171st Place, Flushing, New York 11358; h. 541 E. 72
nd St, New York 10021