Journalist, born in Chicago, Illinois, USA. A New York based columnist for four decades through 1941, Adams was better known under the byline "FPA.' He had top writers vying to contribute to his "Conning Tower' where he also supplied his own crisp, humorous verse and wide-ranging commentary; on a regular basis he substituted a diary of his doings on the New York literary scene, in a style parodying 17th-century English diarist Samuel Pepys. He was a panelist on the popular radio show Information Please (1938--48) and he is also remembered for his 1910 verse, "Tinker to Evers to Chance.'