H.L. Mencken

American journalist and cultural critic whose acerbic commentary on American democracy, religion, and culture defined an era of skeptical, elitist journalism.

The American Mercury (editor): the most influential American cultural magazine of the 1920s. The American Language: a massive philological study of American English. The Prejudices series: six volumes of literary and cultural criticism. Scopes Trial: his coverage made it a national spectacle. The booboisie: his term for the American middle class — a coinage that entered the language.