It’s interesting the things that pop into one’s mind. Take, for example, what popped into my mind last week.

I was in two villages, Clinton in the morning and Hamilton that afternoon. Being in both places on the same day made Alexander Woollcott — a writer, radio personality and actor — pop into my mind. 

Woollcott was born in New Jersey in 1887. His not so well to do family loved to read and at an early age Woollcott developed a love of literature. Woollcott’s high school grades were good enough to get him into Hamilton College in Clinton. 

He was socially awkward and quite the eccentric, but would later say that his time at Hamilton College, where he edited the college’s literary magazine, were some of the happiest times of his life. 

After college, Woollcott got a job as a reporter at the New York Times. Within five years Woollcott became the newspaper’s drama critic.

World War I interrupted Woollcott’s career. In April 1917, the day after war was declared, Woollcott volunteered as a private in the medical corps. Posted overseas, Woollcott was a sergeant when he and six others with newspaper experience were selected to start Stars and Stripes, a newspaper for people in the military, a publication that still exists and has news bureaus around the world. 

After the war, Woollcott returned to New York City and worked for various newspapers. In 1924, while covering a Broadway opening for the New York Sun, his rave review of the Marx brothers helped launch their careers. Woollcott and the brothers — Groucho, Harpo, Zeppo, Chico and Gummo — would become friends for life. 

Woollcott was prominent and popular in literary circles and became a member of the Algonquin Roundtable, along with Dorothy Parker and other great writers. Woollcott continued to write for newspapers and magazines. He authored books and hosted a CBS radio show. 

In January of 1943, while doing a radio show, Woollcott had a heart attack. He finished the show and died hours later.  

Throughout his life, Woollcott’s love of Hamilton College never wained. There exists today a residence house on campus named in Woollcott’s honor. Back in the day, Woollcott convinced the school to sell the land to his old fraternity so a frat house could be built.  

Dorothy Parker, who besides being on the Algonquin Roundtable with Woollcott was also his friend, said that when he died Woollcott would go where he wanted, not heaven but to Clinton and Hamilton College. 

And he did, but not by a direct route. Woollcott’s ashes were sent by mistake to Colgate University in Hamilton, not Hamilton College in Clinton.  

Colgate University forwarded the ashes to Hamilton College. The ashes arrived in Clinton with 67 cents postage due, which Hamilton College paid.

Driving out of the Village of Hamilton last week, I looked up the hill at Colgate and another name popped into my head. The late Andy Rooney, a great writer of CBS fame, had gone to college there. During World War II, Rooney was a reporter for Stars and Stripes, the newspaper Woollcott helped start.

Interesting the things that pop into one’s mind.