James Thurber

A photo of humorist James Thurber, taken in 1954 by Fred Palumbo of the New York World-Telegram.  

Thurber turned 60 years old that year and had already published his most famous works, including the short story The Secret Life of Walter Mitty and the humor collection The Thurber Carnival.  Blind in one eye since childhood, he also lost vision in the other eye as he aged, accounting for the thick glasses seen here.

Photo from the U.S. Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. (LC-USZ62-112049)