Albert Stevens Crockett was born in Solomons, Maryland on June 19, 1873. After graduating from Western Maryland College, with an undergraduate degree in 1891 and a master's degree in 1894, he worked at several private schools and colleges. In 1899 he began his career as a journalist in Philadelphia, first with the Times and later with the Inquirer. During the first decade of the century he covered many foreign news stories both for the London Daily Telegraph and as a free-lance correspondent. His first important news story was his coverage of an automobile tour of Europe in 1904. He then worked for the New York Sun (1909-1912), the New York Herald, and the New York Times (1912-1915). While with the Herald he worked in London, Paris, and South America. While working for the Sun he originated the first non-theatrical column about New York, “Heard in Hotel Corridors.” Although not syndicated the column was widely quoted. Prior to World War I Crockett worked as a publicist for the Waldorf-Astoria, but with the outbreak of war he volunteered to work in Washington, D.C. and was assigned to the Hotel, Restaurant, Dining Car, and Steamship Division of the U.S. Food Administration, which he headed, although the division was nominally under hotel magnate John McE. Bowman.
After the war he was briefly vice-president and general manager of the Bryant Advertising Company. From 1920 to 1929 he edited World Traveler and Nomad magazines. For much of this period he also worked again as news editor for the Waldorf-Astoria and he wrote several books: Revelations of Louise (1920), When James Gordon Bennett Was Caliph of Bagdad (1926), Old Waldorf Bar Days, Peacocks on Parade, and a book of poetry, Ditties from a Ditty Bag (1922).
From 1939 to 1945 he worked as publicist for the Biltmore Hotel. At this time his wife died (he had married Dolores Newkirk Tousey in 1905), and Crockett suffered from the first of a series of nervous breakdowns. Although he published several short pieces, Crockett was never able to work professionally again. Eventually he became largely dependent upon friends, who included Louis Lochner and Bob Considine. When he died in 1969 he was a non-paying guest of the Overseas Press Club.
