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Q: Author information ( No Answer,   4 Comments )
Question  
Subject: Author information
Category: Reference, Education and News > General Reference
Asked by: kgmarks-ga
List Price: $10.00
Posted: 31 Oct 2002 06:24 PST
Expires: 30 Nov 2002 06:24 PST
Question ID: 94126
Who is Ellen Parr and did she originate a famous quote? The December
1980 Reader's Digest ("Quotable Quotes") cited her, with no further
designation, as the originator of the oft-quoted words, "The cure for
boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity." But I find no
record of her in "Books in Print" or online. (She is not the Ellen
Parr who lives in America's northwest and has written a few online
articles about dogs.) The quote is less-often attributed to Dorothy Parker (see
http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/dept/history/lavender/386/dparker.html,
for example), but it seems with no documentation. I have done a
cursory search through Parker's works in vain search of the quote.
Answer  
There is no answer at this time.

Comments  
Subject: Re: Author information
From: kriswrite-ga on 31 Oct 2002 06:55 PST
 
After an extensive search, I found this quote attributed to Dorothy
Parker *almost* as often as it was attributed to Parr. But I was
unable to find citations at all. It may be that this quote was an
"overheard" phrase, or was given in a speech. In any case, I am
doubtful that Parr was an author; while one or two websites gave Parr
credit for this quote to "author Ellen Parr," I'm thinking they
*assumed* she was an author.

Wish I had a more definitive answer...maybe another researcher will
have better luck!
Subject: Re: Author information
From: tehuti-ga on 31 Oct 2002 07:14 PST
 
The catalogues of the Library of Congress and the British Library do
not contain any records for an Ellen Parr.
Subject: Re: Author information
From: kgmarks-ga on 31 Oct 2002 19:23 PST
 
You're almost certainly right, I suspect, that the "author"
designation is an assumption. I also suspect that all the online Parr
attributions trace back to the 1980 Reader's Digest feature. Reader's
Digest has a reputation for researching its information thoroughly, so
I had thought of writing them, but I was doubtful that they would open
their archives for such a relatively trivial matter. So I'm hoping
I've found a knowledgeable and persistent Google snoop!
Subject: Re: Author information
From: mvguy-ga on 01 Nov 2002 10:01 PST
 
This reminds me of the Sister Mary Tricky question.
https://answers.google.com/answers/main?cmd=threadview&id=29444

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