Dorothy “Dot” Parker was a poet, writer and founder of the Algonquin Round Table

I rode the NYC subway on the #4 line all the way to its last stop at Woodlawn station in the Bronx. Just across the street from the exit, I found the Jerome Avenue entrance to Woodlawn Cemetery, where I discovered the grave of the writer Dorothy Parker.

Born in New Jersey, Dorothy Parker endured a difficult childhood. By her late teens, she had begun playing piano and writing poetry. In 1914, she sold her first poem to Vanity Fair magazine, and a few months later was hired as an editorial assistant at Vogue. She eventually moved to Vanity Fair as a staff writer.

After gaining considerable success as a writer, she founded the famous “Algonquin Round Table” at the Algonquin Hotel in New York City. From 1919 until around 1929, this lively group of writers, critics, actors, and wits gathered daily for lunch. Among its members was the legendary comedian Harpo Marx.

Dorothy Parker died in New York City on June 7, 1967, at the age of 73. In her will, she bequeathed her entire estate to Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., whom she had never met before her passing. Tragically, Dr. King was assassinated a year later in Memphis, Tennessee.

1893–1967

Known for her wit and sharp tongue, here are some of her most memorable quotes:

“Beauty is only skin deep, but ugly goes clean to the bone.”
“If you want to know what God thinks of money, just look at the people he gave it to.”
“The first thing I do in the morning is brush my teeth and sharpen my tongue.”
“Heterosexuality is not normal, it’s just common.”
“That would be a good thing for them to cut on my tombstone: Wherever she went, including here, it was against her better judgment.”
— Dorothy Parker