Brian Hooker (poet)

William Brian Hooker (November 2, 1880 – December 28, 1946) was an American poet, educator, lyricist, and librettist. He was born in New York City, the son of Elizabeth Work and William Augustus Hooker, who was a mining engineer for the New York firm of Hooker and Lawrence. His family was well known in Hartford, Connecticut having descended from Thomas Hooker, a prominent Puritan religious and colonial leader who founded the Colony of Connecticut.^[2]

Brian Hooker
Born	William Brian Hooker (1880-11-02)November 2, 1880 New York City
Died	December 28, 1946(1946-12-28) (aged 66) New London, Connecticut, U.S.
Education	Yale University
Occupations	Poet playwright novelist
Known for	Cyrano de Bergerac (1923 translation) The Vagabond King (1925)
Spouse	Doris Redfield Cooper[1]
Children	3 daughters
Parent(s)	Elizabeth Work William Augustus Hooker
Relatives	Thomas Hooker (1586–1647)

Hooker attended Yale College in the class of 1902, where he was a writer,^[3] editor and business manager for campus humor magazine The Yale Record.^[4] He was an editor of The Yale Record collection Yale Fun (1901).^[5] He died in New London, Connecticut, aged 66.

Works

Cover of Hooker's 1908 novel The Right Man

Hooker published the novel The Right Man, illustrated by Alonzo Myron Kimball, in 1908.^[6] His poetry was published in The Century Magazine, The Forum, Hampton's Magazine, Harper's Magazine, McClure's Magazine, Scribner's Magazine, The Smart Set, and The Yale Review.^[7]

Hooker wrote the librettos for two operas by Horatio Parker, Mona (opera)^[8] and Fairyland.^[9] He co-wrote the libretto and lyrics for Rudolf Friml's 1925 operetta The Vagabond King, and is noted for his 1923 English translation of Edmond Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac.