Finley Peter Dunne (1867 - 1936)

Finley Peter Dunne was an American humorist and writer from Chicago. He published Mr. Dooley in Peace and War, a collection of his nationally syndicated Mr. Dooley sketches, in 1898. The fictional Mr. Dooley expounded upon political and social issues of the day from his South Side Chicago Irish pub and he spoke with the thick verbiage and accent of an Irish immigrant from County Roscommon. Dunne's sketches became so popular and such a litmus test of public opinion that they were read each week at White House cabinet meetings.