The Niles District Library hosted its Third Thursday historical series last week, recognizing a renowned writer and reporter who helped to put Niles on the map: Ring Lardner.

Scott Topping, the Southwestern Michigan College dean of arts and sciences, gave a presentation titled “The Ring Lardner Niles Never Knew.”

Lardner’s name can be glimpsed around Niles, from the Ring Lardner Middle School to

historic landmarks and markers that bear his name.

Ring Lardner was born in Niles on March 6, 1885, and would grow up to become a renowned journalist, sports writer and author. Lardner was also well-known for his personality quirks, notably his wit and humor. His writing style gained the praise of other well-known writers, such as Earnest Hemingway.

Topping drew his expertise for the talk from years of reading and studying Lardner. He said he first became fascinated with the writer when he came across one of his books.

While studying at Western Michigan University, Topping said he wrote a dissertation on Lardner’s lesser known works.

There are many things that one might find surprising about Lardner, Topping told the audience. One of which, Topping said, was the way Lardner covered sports.

Those who have read Lardner’s sports articles can see that his writing did not just keep score of the game. Instead Lardner took a different approach to sports coverage.

“What he liked were the players. He brought life to sports, because he wrote about the players,” Topping said. “He [Lardner] was interested in personalities and he made personalities out of them.”

Though he was known for his sports coverage, Topping said Lardner was a big critic of some aspect of sports. For example,  his story “Champion” follows an athlete who is an abusive and a “nasty person,” but is made into a hero because he can box.

According to Topping, Lardner also lamented a nation who was more interested in watching and cheering on a sports team, than being part of the physical activity themselves.

“He was a critic of sports and lover of sports,” Topping said.

Lardner utilized his writing talents to guide his other passions for writing plays and music. Like his writing, Lardner drew much of his inspiration from what he observed in life, including the things that one might find bizarre or have difficulty explaining.

Topping encouraged the audience to find Lardner’s work, including his lesser known musical work and plays, some of which can be found on YouTube.