Biography
Cleveland Amory was born 2 September 1917 in Nahant, Essex County, Massachusetts, United States to Robert Amory (1885-1972) and Leonore Cobb (1885-1971) and died 14 October 1998 Manhattan, New York, United States of unspecified causes. He married Cora Fields Craddock (bef1941-) 1941 . He married Martha Hodge (bef1954-) 31 December 1954 .
Cleveland Amory was an American author, reporter and commentator and animal rights activist. He originally was known for writing a series of popular books poking fun at the pretensions and customs of society, starting with The Proper Bostonians in 1947. From the 1950s through the 1990s, he had a long career as a reporter and writer for national magazines, and as a television and radio commentator. In the late 1980s and 1990s, he was best known for his bestselling books about his adopted cat, Polar Bear, starting with The Cat Who Came for Christmas (1987). Amory devoted much of his life to promoting animal rights, particularly protection of animals from hunting and vivisection; the executive director of the Humane Society of the United States described Amory as "the founding father of the modern animal protection movement."
Early Life
Amory was born September 2, 1917, into a privileged and established Boston family; his parents were Robert Amory and Leonore Cobb Amory, daughter of Chicago architect Henry Ives Cobb. During his childhood, he had a great affection for his aunt Lucy "Lu" Creshore, who took in many stray animals and was instrumental in helping Amory get his first puppy as a child, an event that Amory remembered seventy years later as the most memorable moment of his childhood.
In 1936, when he was 18, Amory held a summer job as tutor and companion to 13-year-old William Zinsser, who grew up to be a notable writer and editor. Zinsser later recalled that they had many discussions about their shared interest in journalism, which at that time was not considered a suitable profession for upper-class young men. Amory attended Harvard where he was president of The Harvard Crimson.
Siblings
Name | Birth | Death | Joined with |
Robert Amory (1915-) | |||
Cleveland Amory (1917-1998) | 2 September 1917 Nahant, Essex County, Massachusetts, United States | 14 October 1998 Manhattan, New York, United States | Cora Fields Craddock (bef1941-) Martha Hodge (bef1954-) |
Frederick Amory (1919-) | |||
Leonne Amory (c1922-) |
References
Footnotes (including sources)
‡ General |
|