Gelett Burgess

Frank Gelett Burgess (1866–1951) was an American humorist, illustrator and critic, born in Boston. In San Francisco he founded the little magazine The Lark (1895–97), in which his quatrain The Purple Cow first appeared.

He went on to write the Goops books of comic manners for children and the Burgess Nonsense Book (1901), and is credited with coining the word blurb.