SKYLINE

A past master at empurpling prose, Fowler tells how ""once upon a time"" he came from Colorado (accompanying a coffin -- which took a long, long time to arrive at its destination) to New York City -- and stayed there. This is the story of the Roaring Twenties -- and a few of the years before -- which has a strong core in his friendship with Damon Runyon, of his marriage to Agnes, which withstood the hazards of his career, and of the topsy turvy life he knew. It has a vintage feeling in its collection of anecdotes about the people of the times, his crazy capers and those of his fellow newsmen, the whirlwind atmosphere and the sense of a ""shining, ever youthful"" way of living; it has a wry courtesy in its recall of editors, owners and odd personalities; it is filled with a personal love for the New York he knew so well. This adds to the autobiographical Timberline and A Solo in Tom-Toms and is a proper memorial for the man and his generation.