Father of the Bride (S&S Classic Editions)

The 50th anniversary edition of Edward Streeter's heartwarming classic, Father of the Bride. Poor Mr. Banks! His jacket is too tight, he can't get a cocktail, and he's footing the bill....He's the father of the bride. Stanley Banks is just your ordinary suburban dad. He's the kind of guy who believes that weddings are simple affairs in which two people get married. But when daddy's little girl announces her engagement to Buckley, Mr. Banks feels like his life has been turned upside down. And any man with a daughter can appreciate Mr. Banks's feelings. Kay: Now, Pops, please. If we're going -- Mr. Banks: -- and what's his last name? I hope it's better than his first one. Kay: Pops, I'm not going to sit here -- Mr. Banks: -- and where the hell does he come from -- and who does he think is going to support him? If it's me he's got another guess coming. And who in God's name -- To say the least, Mr. Banks isn't taking it well, and to make matters worse, he must host cocktail parties with the in-laws-to-be, initiate financial planning talks with Buckley, and moderate family conferences on who will be invited to the reception. Who can blame him when he sinks so low as to offer Kay $1500 to elope? But Mr. Banks holds his peace, and when the last wedding guest has departed from his confetti-matted house, he has his memories, and you have a merry record of his tribulations.

From an early age, Edward Streeter (1891-1976) had an affinity for writing. He edited the school paper and the class book at the Pomfret School, and he was editor-in-chief of the Harvard Lampoon until he graduated in 1914.

From Harvard he went to work for a building-supply business in Buffalo, but he soon began to write for the Buffalo Express. He continued to contribute articles to the Express while he was stationed on the Mexican border with the New York National Guard. It was there in his division's newspaper that the first of his famous "Dere Mable" columns appeared. In 1918 Streeter published a collection of these columns, Dere Mable: Love Letters of a Rookie, which became a bestseller while he was away fighting in France. He wrote three sequels: That's Me All Over, Mable (1919), Same Old Bill, Eh, Mable (1919), and As You Were, Bill (1920).

Though he still published stories in magazines, Streeter gave up the literary life to become a successful banker. After eighteen years, Streeter published Daily Except Sundays and began his second career as a satirist, following in the footsteps of contemporaries like Robert Benchley and Ogden Nash.

In 1949, Streeter published Father of the Bride. The book was a major success, selling more than seventy thousand copies and becoming one of the year's top-ten bestsellers. In 1950, Father of the Bride enjoyed more celebrity when it was made into a film starring Spencer Tracy and Elizabeth Taylor.

Streeter went on to write six more books: Skoal Scandinavia (1952), Mr. Hobbs' Vacation (1954), Merry Christmas, Mr. Baxter (1956), Chairman of the Bored (1961), Along the Ridge (1964), and Ham Martin, Class of '17 (1969).

As a humorist, Edward Streeter enjoyed only modest celebrity, but his most famous work, Father of the Bride, has lasted the ages.