PETER JAMES “P.J.” HUMMEL (b. 21 February 1927 – d. 2 December 1954) was an American journalist, writer, and lyricist.
Hummel was born in St. Cloud, Minnesota, the son of a railroad worker, Frederick Hummel, and his wife, Dorothy, a former Olympic figure skating champion. At the age of five, Hummel’s father was killed in a workplace accident, leaving him and his mother destitute.
They moved to Rochester where his mother supported them as a factory seamstress. After graduating high school, Hummel served a brief tour as a medic in the United Sates Navy. Upon his discharge in 1945, he attended the University of Chicago, studying business, economics and creative writing.
He took a job as a typesetter at the Rochester Post-Bulletin, later joining the editorial staff and publishing a regular column, P.J.’s Pearls, in which he shared amusing tales of local history, legends and eccentric characters,.
Hummel’s first novel, Gingerland, was published in October, 1953. Based on stories told to him by his grandmother. Gingerland generated significant critical acclaim and brisk sales worldwide and was translated into no less than 16 languages.
Hummel succumbed to tuberculosis in Duarte, California in 1954.
Yeah, I'll drop $39 a year to get spoon fed stories from the Great Daniel Knauf. It's cheaper than buying him drinks, which I'm happy to do anytime.
Write until your fingers bleed, my friend.