Notable Nobs Not Unpleasant To Know: Letters T Thru Z

In his nonsense verse “How pleasant to know Mr. Lear” the popularizer of the limerick makes amusing observations about himself. In the octaves below readers are urged to discover equally intriguing characters who, it’s hoped, will prove just as amusing and, in the end, just as “not unpleasant to know.”

     Not in-
pleasant to know? Mr. Thomas.
     Dylan 
slipped off the plate short of forty.
     Wrong's who 
tells Dylan's cells were found squamous:
     boozing 
into his brain led its sortie.
     Though 'twas 
left unfulfilled (Dylan's promise),
     and his 
shirts fell well short of the sporty,
     he was 
pleasant to know, was young Thomas.
     (And, though 
small, was but rarely called "Shorty.")

     Not un-
pleasant to know: Mr. Tillstrom...*

     Not un-
pleasant to know: Mr. Thurber.* 
     Among 
satirists, few be superber. 
     Jim kids 
Parker** (though not Edna Ferber***: 
     Dot warns, 
"Don't, Jim; 'twould only disturb her...").
     When brisk 
breezes blow fresh off the curb, er-
     mine cha-
peaus don yer Basque 'n' yer Berber --
     as does 
pleasant-to-know Mr. Thurber: 
     What all 
three chiefly need...? Warmer fur! Br-r-r-r-r...
     * James Thurber

     Not un-
pleasant to know: Unamuno...

    Not un- 
pleasant to know: Mr. Vonnegut,* 
     ak- 
a alter eg(g)' Kilgore Trout. 
     Not at 
all a cashew nor pecan-y nut,
     Kurt tells 
tales folks should not go without.
     Of Swift 
satire, the sine qua non, he; what
     he writes, 
readers tres "read"ily tout.
     In a 
nutshell: non-nutjob Kurt Vonnegut
     is what 
sensible nonsense be 'bout.
     * Kurt Vonnegut

     Not un-
pleasant to know: G. Verbeek*…
     * Gustave Verbeek  

     Not un-
pleasant to know: Mr. West...*
     * Colin West

     Not un-
pleasant to know: Mr. Waters...*
     * John Waters 

     Not un-
pleasant to know: Mr. Zappa,* 
     playing
Pap to Moon Unit and Dweezil.** 
     Only 
jocks spelling 'crocks' with a kappa
     have not
heard how Frank's flesh by a weasel 
     was once
ripped,*** or that s'rrounding his yap, a-
     ppeared black
hairs: a goatee**** oiled with diesel
     had the
pleasant-to-know Mr. Zappa --
     also
rubbed with Dipsacus (or teasel).*****
    * Frank Zappa 
     ** Frank's children also includ Diva.
     *** The "Weasels Ripped My Flesh" album was released by Frank's Mothers of Invention.
     **** Actually a so-called Imperial 
     ***** An Old World herb

      Not un-
pleasant to know: Lou Zukovsky. 
     True: Lou
penned not "A Po'm Endin' 'A,'"*
     nor sub-
jectivist stuff** trolling Love's Key;***
     still, he's
tres de regueur -- in his day. 
     Lou's en-
dowment? When push comes to shove, "'Skee"****
     shall be
shunned (should his son have his way*****). 
     Shame! Shall
pleasant-to-know Lou Zukovsky,
     like those
snark hunters, "vanish away"?******
     (Footnotes to come)