Origin of the name Lemony Snicket
(Daniel Handler speaking to National Public Radio's Terry Gross) "I was researching the first of two novels that I've published under my own name, the first novel, "The Basic Eight," and I needed to contact for research purposes some right-wing political organizations and religious groups, and I wanted material mailed to me, but I didn't want to be on their mailing list, for obvious reasons. And so someone asked me, `So what is your name?' And I opened my mouth and out popped the words `Lemony Snicket.' "

Handler told Gross that he had not consciously intended for the name to sound like Jiminy Cricket, whom he called "exactly the kind of overly moralistic, cheerful narrator who I despise."

Daniel Handler's Thoughts on Stories with Unhappy Events:
In a piece Handler wrote for The New York Times (reprinted in The Observer on Oct. 31, 2001): "It is natural now to wonder how some people can do terrible things, how we can stay strong when something terrible could happen to us at any moment, whether it is right to inflict horror on other people because it has been inflicted on us. The answers are unlikely to be found in stories that ignore rather than acknowledge these questions."

Stories can offer a truth -- that real trouble cannot be erased, only endured -- that is more soothing to me than any determiedly cheerful grin."

Interviews and Articles

A Series of Unfortunate Questions and Answers
From Nickelodeon Magazine, Issue 75, October 2001
Nickelodeon Magazine: Why is the series so filled with tragedy?
Daniel Handler:I had an idea to write books that would be an antidote to what I hated to read a s a child: stories where everything turned out absolutely all right-where people went off to summer camp and had a really good time, or in which a bullying kid turned out to be this cheerful, misunderstood person. All these things I never saw happening around me.
Is there a trick to making sad things amusing?
No, I'm just the sort of person who thinks miserable things can be funny at the same time as being dismal
What books did you enjoy as a kid?
I loved books by Roald Dahl, Edward Gorey, and Zilpha Keatley Snyder, who wrote The Egypt Game.
What were you like as a kid?
Shorter than I am now. And, let's see, I was reading all the time. And I was the sort of kid who was funny enough that I wouldn't get beat up.
Why don't you use your own name as the author of the book series?
It became clear as I was writing the series that the narrator was somebody who was really in the story. So it seemed that the book should be published under the name of the person who was involved in the story, rather than my own name.
Where did Lemony Snicket come from?
I was researching a book for adults and I contacted an organization whose mailing list I didn't want to be on. When they asked for me name, I said, "Lemony Snicket". The name more or less just popped into my head.
Are the Baudelaire orphans learning any big lessons about life?
No, I think they?re learning specific skills. Nothing beats a good code-breaking tactic when you really need one. And it?s very useful to be able to build a signaling device when you are experiencing difficulties in remote surroundings.
Do you enjoy reading your stories aloud for books on tape?
No. [laughs] I enjoy the idea of it. But it's very frustrating. I have begun to think that it would best be done by people who read things in inspiring voices for a living. i.e., actors.
Is it frustrating because of all the takes?
What did you say?
Is it frustrating because of all the takes?
Wait, can you say that one more time.
Is it frustrating because?
See how it's frustrating?

Official Description:
Lemony Snicket was born before you were, and is likely to die before you as well. His family has roots in a part of the country which is now underwater, and his childhood was spent in the relative splendor of the Snicket Villa which has since become a factory, a fortress and a pharmacy and is now, alas, someone else's villa. To the untrained eye, Mr. Snicket's hometown would not appear to be filled with secrets. Untrained eyes have been wrong before.

The aftermath of the scandal was swift, brutal and inaccurately reported in the periodicals of the day. It is true, however, that Mr. Snicket was stripped of several awards by the reigning authorities, including Honorable Mention, the Grey Ribbon and First Runner Up. The High Council reached a convenient if questionable verdict and Mr. Snicket found himself in exile.

Though his formal training was chiefly in rhetorical analysis, he has spent the last several eras researching the travails of the Baudelaire orphans. This project, being published serially by HarperCollins, takes him to the scenes of numerous crimes, often during the offseason. Eternally pursued and insatiably inquisitive, a hermit and a nomad, Mr. Snicket wishes you nothing but the best.

Due to the world-wide web of conspiracy which surrounds him, Mr. Snicket often communicates with the general public through his representative, Daniel Handler. Mr. Handler has had a relatively uneventful life, and is the author of two books for adults, The Basic Eight and Watch Your Mouth, neither of which are anywhere near as dreadful as Mr. Snicket's. Like Mr. Snicket, Mr. Handler wishes you nothing but the best.

1) He was born before you and me, and will die before we do.
2) The place where his family is from is underwater.
3) He spent his childhood at Snicket Villa (which has become a factory, a fortress and a pharmacy and is now someone else's villa)
4) He has been stripped of various awards.
5) He is living in exile
6) ????

That's the informaion you can get from the paragraph, but is it true?

Contact Information
You can contact Lemony Snicket at the following addresses:
Through Post:
Mr. Snicket
HarperCollins Children's Books
1350 Avenue of the Americas
New York, New York 10019

You can also receive a message from Lemony Snicket by emailing: lsnicket@harpercollins.com

To e-mail Harper Collins, (The Publishers) in reference to him: harpersnicket@harpercollins.com