Don Marquis don marquis was a great man he was one of the few who recognize talent even in cockroaches and went out of his way to publish worthy scribes the fresh paper in the typewriter and the crumbs of food nearby glad to find someone else of equal stature what was your name anyway fella yr pal archie Wed Aug 09 2000 at 22:22:59 Donald Robert Perry Marquis, 1878-1937. An American newspaperman, poet, and playwright, early on an assistant editor to Joel Chandler Harris. While struggling with the task of writing the daily "Sun Dial" column for the New York Sun, he was inspired to create Archy the cockroach. The idea was that every night, Archy (who possessed the transmigrated soul of a free versepoet) would in a passionate desire to express himself hurl himself headfirst at the keys of Marquis' typewriter, battering himself nearly senseless in the name of literature till he staggered back to his nest in the early hours in the morning.