James Grover Thurber was a renowned American cartoonist, writer, humorist, journalist, and playwright. He was celebrated for his cartoons and short stories, which were predominantly published in The New Yorker and later collected into numerous books. Thurber's unique ability to capture the comic frustrations and eccentricities of ordinary people made him one of the most beloved humorists of his time.

Born in Columbus, Ohio, he was the son of Charles L. Thurber, a civil clerk, and Mary Agnes Fisher Thurber, an eccentric woman with a flair for comedy. Both parents had a profound impact on his work. Thurber had two brothers, William and Robert. An unfortunate childhood accident during a game of "William Tell" with his brother resulted in the loss of an eye, and he eventually became blind in both eyes. Despite this, Thurber never stopped writing or drawing.

Thurber attended Ohio State University from 1913 to 1917 and was a member of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity. Due to his eye injury, he didn't complete a required ROTC course, preventing him from graduating, though he later received an honorary degree from OSU. His professional writing career began at the Columbus Dispatch in 1920. He later joined The New Yorker in 1927, initially as an editor, thanks to his friend E.B. White. His career as a cartoonist began when White discovered some of Thurber's drawings and submitted them for publication.

Thurber authored nearly forty books and won a Tony Award for his Broadway play, A Thurber Carnival, in which he often starred himself. His works have been adapted into several films, including The Male Animal (1942), The Battle of the Sexes (1959), and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947 and 2013).

James Thurber passed away on November 2, 1961, in New York, due to complications from pneumonia.