P. J. O'Rourke

{{Short description|American political satirist and journalist (1947–2022)}}

{{Infobox person

| name = P. J. O'Rourke

| image = PJ O'Rourke 1.jpg

| image_size =

| caption = O'Rourke in 2007

| birth_name = Patrick Jake O'Rourke

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1947|11|14}}

| birth_place = Toledo, Ohio, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|2022|2|15|1947|11|14}}

| death_place = Sharon, New Hampshire, U.S.

| alma_mater = {{unbulleted list | Miami University | Johns Hopkins University}}

| occupation = {{hlist | Political satirist | journalist}}

| spouse = {{unbulleted list | {{marriage|Amy Lumet|1990|1993|end=divorced}} | {{marriage|Tina Mallon|1995}}}}

| children = Elizabeth, Olivia, Edward

| website = {{official URL}}

}}

Patrick Jake O'Rourke (November 14, 1947 – February 15, 2022) was an American author, journalist, and political satirist who wrote twenty-two books on subjects as diverse as politics, cars, etiquette, and economics. Parliament of Whores and Give War a Chance both reached No. 1 on The New York Times bestseller list.

After beginning his career writing for the National Lampoon, O'Rourke went on to serve as foreign affairs desk chief for Rolling Stone where he reported from far-flung places. Later he wrote for a number of publications, including The Atlantic, the Daily Beast, the Wall Street Journal, and the Weekly Standard, and was a longtime panelist on NPR's Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!.

The Forbes Media Guide Five Hundred, 1994 states, "O'Rourke's original reporting, irreverent humor, and crackerjack writing makes for delectable reading. He never minces words or pulls his punches, whatever the subject."Terry Eastland, ed. (1994). Forbes Media Guide Five Hundred, 1994: A Critical Review of the Media. p. 301.

Life and career

O'Rourke was born in Toledo, Ohio, the son of Delphine (née Loy), a housewife, and Clifford Bronson O'Rourke, a car salesman.{{cite web | url=http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20120668,00.html | title=Serving Up Emily Post with a Wicked Twist, P.J. O'Rourke Takes Aim at Modern Manners | first1=Kim | last1=Hubbard | first2=Dirk | last2=Mathison | date=July 3, 1989 | work=People | access-date=August 12, 2022 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140220224748/http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20120668,00.html | archive-date=February 20, 2014}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CRazAQAAQBAJ&q=%22The%20Baby%20Boom%20is%20dedicated%20to%20the%20memory%20of%20Clifford%20Bronson%20O'Rourke%20and%20Delphine%20Loy%20O'Rourke,%20progenitors%20thereof.%22&pg=PR5|title=The Baby Boom: How It Got That Way...|first=P.J.|last=O'Rourke|year=2014|publisher=Grove/Atlantic, Inc.|isbn=978-0802121974|via=Google Books}} O'Rourke had Irish ancestry that traces back to County Roscommon.{{Cite web | url=https://www.irishamerica.com/2007/08/p-j-orourke/ | title=P.J. O'Rourke | first=Chuck | last=Leddy | date=August 2007 | website=Irish America | access-date=August 12, 2022}} He graduated from Toledo's DeVilbiss High School in 1965,1965 Pot O' Gold, Volume 33, Thomas A. DeVilbiss High School. received his undergraduate degree from Miami University in 1969 and earned a Master of Arts in English at Johns Hopkins University.{{cite news|url = https://www.miamialum.org/s/916/16/interior.aspx?pgid=8067&gid=1&cid=26353|title = Boomers' Ballad|last = Marsh|first = Betsa|work = Miami University Alumni Association|publisher = Miami University|access-date = February 15, 2022}} Many of O'Rourke's essays recount that during his student days he was a leftist, anti-war hippie, but that in the 1970s his political views underwent a volte-face. He emerged as a political observer and humorist rooted in libertarian conservatism.{{cite news|last=Grove |first=Lloyd |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1991/06/03/pj-orourke-one-extreme-to-the-other/5c8ee525-76ab-40eb-91d9-ab21795cfd9c/ |title=P.J. O'Rourke One Extreme To The Other |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=June 3, 1991 |access-date=February 15, 2022}}{{cite web|first=Richard |last=Hamer |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/observations/2020/03/pj-o-rourke-i-thought-trump-was-unstable-dangerous-i-still-do |title=PJ O'Rourke: "I thought Trump was unstable, dangerous. I still do" |publisher=Newstatesman.com |date= March 4, 2020|access-date=February 15, 2022}}

O'Rourke wrote articles for several publications, including "A.J. at N.Y.U." for The Rip Off Review of Western Culture, an underground magazine/comic book, in 1972, as well as pieces for the Baltimore underground newspaper Harry and the New York Ace, before joining National Lampoon in 1973, where he served as editor-in-chief, among other roles, and authored articles such as "Foreigners Around the World"{{cite book|last1=Karp|first1=Josh|title=A Futile and Stupid Gesture|date=2006|publisher=Chicago Review Press|location=Chicago|isbn=978-1556526022|page=[https://archive.org/details/futilestupidgest00karp_0/page/273 273]|url=https://archive.org/details/futilestupidgest00karp_0/page/273}} and "How to Drive Fast on Drugs While Getting Your Wing-Wang Squeezed and Not Spill Your Drink".{{cite book|last1=Karp |title=A Futile and Stupid Gesture|date=2006|publisher=Chicago Review Press|location=Chicago|isbn=978-1556526022|pages=[https://archive.org/details/futilestupidgest00karp_0/page/336 336–337]|url=https://archive.org/details/futilestupidgest00karp_0/page/336}}

O'Rourke received a writing credit for National Lampoon's Lemmings which helped launch the careers of Chevy Chase and Christopher Guest. He also co-wrote National Lampoon's 1964 High School Yearbook with Douglas Kenney.{{cite web|first=Greg|last= Evans |url=https://deadline.com/2022/02/p-j-orourke-dead-satirist-author-npr-panelist-was-74-1234934208/ |title=P. J. O'Rourke Dead: Satirist, Author & NPR Panelist Was 74 |publisher=Deadline Hollywood |date= February 15, 2022|access-date=February 15, 2022}} This inspired the cult comedy, Animal House, which launched the career of John Belushi.{{Cite news |title=PJ O'Rourke dies aged 74 |newspaper=The Times |language=en |url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/pj-orourke-dies-of-lung-cancer-aged-74-6sz8xrd5t |access-date=March 17, 2022 |issn=0140-0460}}

Going freelance in 1981, O'Rourke had his work published in Playboy, Vanity Fair, Car and Driver,{{cite web|url=https://www.barracudamagazine.com/interview-with-p-j-orourke/ |title=Interview With P.J. O'Rourke |publisher=Barracudamagazine.com |date= |access-date=February 15, 2022}} and Rolling Stone. He became foreign-affairs desk chief at Rolling Stone, where he remained until 2001.{{cite magazine|first=Althea|last= Legaspi |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/p-j-orourke-dead-obit-1300786/ |title=P.J. O'Rourke, Celebrated Conservative Satirist, Dead at 74 |magazine=Rolling Stone |date= February 15, 2022|access-date=February 15, 2022}} In 1996, he served as the conservative commentator in the point-counterpoint segment of 60 Minutes.{{Cite web|url=https://buffalonews.com/news/p-j-orourke-cops-an-attitude/article_4acb5701-a202-53f0-aa55-d4aa4ababc04.html|title=P. J. O'Rourke Cops an Attitude|last = Simon|first = Jeff|website=Buffalo News|date = March 7, 1997}} During the Bosnian genocide, O'Rourke referred to the American public's lack of interest in Bosnia as a way to joke about "the unspellables killing the unpronounceables".{{cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/world_news_america/8331074.stm | title=Matt Frei's diary: Dilemmas of intervention | first=Matt | last=Frei | publisher=BBC | date= October 29, 2009 | access-date=August 12, 2022}}

O'Rourke published over 20 books, including three New York Times bestsellers. Parliament of Whores and Give War a Chance reached No. 1 on The New York Times Best Seller list.{{Cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/world/us/pj-orourke-renowned-political-satirist-journalist-dies-age-74-2022-02-15/|title=P.J. O'Rourke, renowned political satirist and journalist, dies age 74|first=Tyler|last=Clifford|date=February 15, 2022|work = Reuters}} He also wrote Modern Manners and Holidays in Hell. O'Rourke was a "Real Time Real Reporter" for Real Time with Bill Maher covering the 2008 presidential election.{{cite web|url=https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/pj-orourke/credits/216703|title=P.J. O'Rourke |website=TVGuide.com|language=en|access-date=December 24, 2018}} In the UK, he was known as the face of a long-running series of television advertisements for British Airways in the 1990s.

O'Rourke also worked on screenplays in Hollywood, including Rodney Dangerfield's Easy Money.

In 2009, O'Rourke described the nascent presidency of Barack Obama as "the Carter administration in better sweaters".{{cite news|url=http://www.theage.com.au/world/the-world-and-its-crisis-according-to-pj-20090422-afbz.html|title=The world (and its crisis) according to P.J.|last=Shanahan|first=Leo|date=April 23, 2009|work=The Age|access-date=December 22, 2011|location=Melbourne}} However, in 2016, he endorsed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump. O'Rourke stated that his endorsement included her "lies and empty promises" and added "She's wrong about absolutely everything, but she's wrong within normal parameters".{{cite web|last=Gass|first=Nick|url=https://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/pj-orourke-endorses-hillary-clinton-222954|title=P.J. O'Rourke hate-endorses Hillary Clinton on NPR quiz show|date=May 9, 2016|work=Politico|access-date=May 18, 2016}}

Personal life

From 1990 to 1993, O'Rourke was married to Amy Lumet, a daughter of movie director Sidney Lumet and a granddaughter of Lena Horne. In 1995, he married Tina Mallon; they had three children: daughters Elizabeth and Olivia and son Clifford.{{cite news|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/15/books/pj-orourke-dead.html|title = P.J. O'Rourke, Conservative Political Satirist, Dies at 74|work = The New York Times|last = Genzlinger|first = Neil|date = February 15, 2022|access-date = February 15, 2022|url-access = limited}} In an interview with the New Statesman published in January 2012, O'Rourke said, "Despite my name, I wasn't raised a Catholic. My mother was a Protestant, of a traditional American, vague kind: she belonged to the church that the nice people in the neighbourhood went to. My wife is a Catholic, the kids are Catholic, so I'm a Catholic fellow-traveller."{{cite news|url = https://www.newstatesman.com/north-america/2012/01/barack-obama-interview-tea|title = The NS Interview – P J O'Rourke|date = January 9, 2012|last = Shackle|first = Shamira|work = New Statesman|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120115055927/https://www.newstatesman.com/north-america/2012/01/barack-obama-interview-tea|archive-date = January 15, 2012}}

In September 2008, O'Rourke announced that he had been diagnosed with treatable rectal cancer, from which he expected "a 95% chance of survival".{{cite news|url=http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-orourke28-2008sep28,0,3317114.story |title=Give me liberty and give me death|last=O'Rourke|first= P.J. |newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date= September 28, 2008}} O'Rourke, a heavy smoker, died from lung cancer at his home in Sharon, New Hampshire, on February 15, 2022, at the age of 74.{{cite news|url = https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/pj-orourke-influential-satirist-commentator-dies-74-rcna16378|title = P.J. O'Rourke, influential satirist and commentator, dies at 74|work = NBCNews.com|last = Romero|first = Dennis|date = February 15, 2022|access-date = February 15, 2022}}

Writing

{{external media| float = right| video1 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?111867-1/eat-rich Presentation by O'Rourke on Eat the Rich, September 15, 1998], C-SPAN| video2 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?111867-1/eat-rich Booknotes interview with O'Rourke on Eat the Rich, January 3, 1999], C-SPAN| video3 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?167260-1/the-ceo-sofa Presentation by O'Rourke on The CEO of the Sofa, November 10, 2001], C-SPAN| video4 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?182438-1/peace-kills-americas-fun-imperialism Presentation by O'Rourke on Peace Kills, June 22, 2004], C-SPAN| video5 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?287078-1/driving-crazy Presentation by O'Rourke on Driving Like Crazy, June 13, 2009], C-SPAN| video6 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?296475-1/dont-vote-encourages-bastards Presentation by O'Rourke on Don't Vote, It Just Encourages the Bastards, November 3, 2010], C-SPAN| video7 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?317354-1/the-baby-boom Presentation by O'Rourke on The Baby Boom, January 15, 2014], C-SPAN | video8 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?400037-6/open-phones-pj-orourke Interview with O'Rourke on Thrown Under the Omnibus, November 22, 2015], C-SPAN | video9 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?400037-4/thrown-omnibus Presentation by O'Rourke on Thrown Under the Omnibus, November 22, 2015], C-SPAN | video10 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?425794-1/pj-orourke-discusses-how-hell-happen Presentation by O'Rourke on How the Hell Did This Happen?, March 27, 2017], C-SPAN | video11 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?451161-2/none-business Presentation by O'Rourke on None of My Business, September 2, 2018], C-SPAN | video12 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?475905-1/a-cry-middle Interview with O'Rourke on A Cry from the Far Middle, September 15, 2020], C-SPAN}}

O'Rourke was a proponent of gonzo journalism; one of his earliest and best-regarded pieces was "How to Drive Fast on Drugs While Getting Your Wing-Wang Squeezed and Not Spill Your Drink", a National Lampoon article in March 1979.{{cite book |last1=Pendergast |first1=Tom |last2=Pendergast |first2=Sara |title=St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture |date=2000 |publisher=St. James Press |isbn=978-1-55862-403-0 |page=573 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=al4YAAAAIAAJ&q=%22Republican%20Party%20Reptile%22 |language=en}}{{cite web |url=http://www.nationallampoon.com/flashbacks/how2/how2.html |title=Full text |access-date=May 5, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030124091317/http://www.nationallampoon.com/flashbacks/how2/how2.html |archive-date=January 24, 2003 |url-status=dead}}, National Lampoon mirror, Internet Archive, archive made January 24, 2003, archive Retrieved May 5, 2007. The article was republished in two of his books, Republican Party Reptile (1987) and Driving Like Crazy (2009).{{cite news |last1=Urquhart |first1=James |title=Driving Like Crazy, By P J O'Rourke |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/driving-like-crazy-by-p-j-o-rourke-1794111.html |access-date=February 16, 2022 |work=The Independent |date=September 27, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220216032114/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/driving-like-crazy-by-p-j-o-rourke-1794111.html |archive-date=February 16, 2022 |language=en}}

O'Rourke's best-received book is Parliament of Whores, subtitled A Lone Humorist Attempts to Explain the Entire U.S. Government, whose main argument, according to the author, "is that politics are boring".{{cite news|work=McGill-Queen's University Press|first=Peter|last=Swirski|title=Ars Americana Ars Politica|year=2010}} He described himself as a libertarian.[http://discuss.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/zforum/01/author_orourke091001.htm Live Online with PJ O'Rourke] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080703193654/http://discuss.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/zforum/01/author_orourke091001.htm |date=July 3, 2008 }}, The Washington Post September 10, 2001.

O'Rourke typed his manuscripts on an IBM Selectric typewriter, though he denied being a Luddite, asserting that his short attention span would have made focusing on writing on a computer difficult.{{cite news|url=http://papercuts.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/11/09/stray-questions-for-pj-orourke/?hp|work=The New York Times|first=Dwight|last=Garner|title=Stray Questions for: P.J. O'Rourke|date=November 9, 2007}}

Bibliography

National Lampoon 1964 High School Yearbook Parody (1974; with Doug Kenney); {{ISBN|978-1-59071-057-9}}
National Lampoon Sunday Newspaper Parody (1978; with John Hughes); {{ISBN|978-1-59071-037-1}}
Modern Manners (1983); {{ISBN|978-0-87113-375-5}}
The Bachelor Home Companion (1986); {{ISBN|978-0-87113-686-2}}
Republican Party Reptile (1987); {{ISBN|978-0-87113-622-0}}
Holidays in Hell (1989); {{ISBN|978-0-8021-3701-2}}
Parliament of Whores (1991); {{ISBN|978-0-8021-3970-2}}
Give War a Chance (1992); {{ISBN|978-0-679-74201-2}}
All the Trouble in the World (1994); {{ISBN|978-0-87113-611-4}}
Age and Guile Beat Youth, Innocence, and a Bad Haircut (1995); {{ISBN|978-0-87113-653-4}}
The American Spectator's Enemies List (1996); {{ISBN|978-0-87113-632-9}}
Eat the Rich (1999); {{ISBN|978-0-87113-760-9}}
The CEO of the Sofa (2001); {{ISBN|978-0-8021-3940-5}}
Peace Kills: America's Fun New Imperialism (2004); {{ISBN|978-0-8021-4198-9}}
On the Wealth of Nations: Books That Changed the World (2007); {{ISBN|978-0-8021-4342-6}}
Driving Like Crazy (2009); {{ISBN|978-0-8021-1883-7}}
Don't Vote! – It Just Encourages the Bastards (2010) {{ISBN|978-0-8021-1960-5}}
Holidays in Heck (2011); {{ISBN|978-0-8021-1985-8}}
The Baby Boom: How It Got That Way (And It Wasn't My Fault) (And I'll Never Do It Again) (2014) {{ISBN|978-0-8021-2197-4}}
Thrown Under the Omnibus (2015); {{ISBN|978-0-8021-2366-4}}
How the Hell Did This Happen? The Election of 2016 (2017); {{ISBN|978-0802126191}}
None of My Business: P.J. Explains Money, Banking, Debt, Equity, Assets, Liabilities, and Why He's Not Rich and Neither Are You (2018); {{ISBN|978-0-8021-2848-5}}
A Cry from the Far Middle: Dispatches from a Divided Land (2020); {{ISBN|978-0-8021-5773-7}}

References

External links

{{Official website}}
{{IMDb name}}
{{discogs artist|P. J. O'Rourke}}
[http://www.abc.net.au/tv/fora/stories/2009/05/01/2556370.htm PJ O'Rourke delivers Australia's National Press Club Address]
Transcript (and video): [http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2009/s2538917.htm ABC 7:30 Report: An Audience with PJ O'Rourke]
{{National Public Radio|1952790}} in 2004
[http://www.cbc.ca/thehour/videos.html?id=753512143 P.J. on The Hour]
{{C-SPAN|26549}}
[https://www.c-span.org/video/?195600-1/depth-pj-orourke In Depth interview with O'Rourke, January 7, 2007]
[https://www.theatlantic.com/doc/by/p_j_o_rourke Articles] at The Atlantic
[https://web.archive.org/web/20080409005709/http://www.cato.org/people/orourke.html Articles] at the Cato Institute
[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b068yf8z BBC Radio 4 – Point of View program: Presidential Candidates (Sep 2015) 5audio 10min]