Ernest Vincent Wright was an American author who lived from 1872 to October 7, 1939. He is best known for writing Gadsby, a 50,000-word book that, except for the introduction and a note at the end, doesn't use the letter "e" at all. Ed Park wrote in the Village Voice in 2002 that he might have been born in England but was probably from the United States. In October 1930, Wright went to the Evening Independent newspaper and asked them to sponsor a contest for writing blue lipograms. The winner would get $250. In the letter, he talked about how great Gadsby was. Wright wrote the first draught of The Great Gatsby in 1936 when he was at the National Military Home in California for almost six months. He couldn't find a publisher, so he put out the book himself using a self-publishing press. Wright had written three other books before The Wonderful Fairies of the Sun: The Fairies That Run the World and How They Do It (1903) and Thoughts and Reveries of an American Bluejacket (1896). (1918). His funny poem "When Father Carves the Duck" is in some books of poetry.