Richard Lederer


Richard Lederer is an American author, speaker, and teacher. He is best known for his books on the English language and on word play such as puns, oxymorons, and anagrams. He has been dubbed "the Wizard of Idiom," "Attila the Pun," and "Conan the Grammarian." His weekly column, "Lederer on Language," appears in the San Diego Union-Tribune and his articles are in newspapers and magazines throughout the United States including the Mensa Bulletin.
He was elected International Punster of the Year in 1989 and was the 2002 recipient of the Golden Gavel of Toastmasters International.

Early life and education

The youngest of five children, Lederer grew up in West Philadelphia. He graduated from Haverford College as a pre-med student. He attended Harvard Law School for one year, then switched to the Master of Arts in Teaching Program at Harvard University. He taught English and media at the St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire for 27 years until 1989. In 1980 he earned a PhD in Linguistics from the University of New Hampshire.

Career

He has written more than fifty books, including Anguished English books starting in 1987, Get Thee to a Punnery, Crazy English, The Miracle of Language, Amazing Words, and The Joy of Names.
Known as a "verbivore," a word he coined in the late 1980s, Lederer's interests include uncovering word and phrase origins, pointing out common grammatical errors and fallacies, and exploring palindromes, anagrams, and other forms of recreational wordplay.
His books about various subjects other than language include Presidential Trivia, A Treasury for Cat Lovers and A Treasury for Dog Lovers, The Gift of Age, A Tribute to Teachers, and American Trivia with Caroline McCullagh.
In 1998 he and Charles Harrington Elster became founding co-hosts of the weekly radio show, A Way with Words, produced by KPBS, San Diego Public Radio, and is broadcast by multiple stations throughout the United States. In October 2006, Lederer retired from A Way with Words. He continues broadcasting through regular guest appearances on several major market public and Clear-Channel commercial radio stations.

Personal life

Lederer has been married twice. He had three children with his first wife, Rhoda Spagenberg, an advertising manager for The Village Voice in New York: Howard Lederer and Annie Duke, both world-renowned poker players, and Katy Lederer, an author and poet. In 1992 he married Simone van Egeren, whom he met at a Mensa gathering. They live in San Diego, California.
Lederer makes more than a hundred appearances each year, many of them benefit performances in San Diego.

Publications

Richard Lederer has had over fifty titles published.

Books