The original New York Magazine Competition ended when Ms. Madden quit. When he shifted to once every three weeks for about a year (succeeded by Richard Maltby Jr.), Ms. Madden took over the page the rest of the time. Ms. Madden, a gifted wordsmith, was recruited by her friend Stephen Sondheim, the composer and lyricist, to create the New York Magazine Competition, which made its debut in 1969. Ms. Madden owned a cat named Grace. Advertisement Continue reading the main storyHer witty wordplay competitions attracted a weekly average of 1,500 readers, who would read the magazine from the back.

Source: New York Times August 03, 2016 20:32 UTC