Hodgson was a newspaper reporter and columnist, writing at different times for the
Minneapolis Times and the
St. Paul Dispatch-Pioneer Press. He had a column that appeared daily on the back page of the
Dispatch called "Cabbages and Kings," a reference to
Lewis Carroll's poem, "
The Walrus and the Carpenter." He commonly wrote under the pen name "Larry Ho." The name came about when he had written his first feature article for the
Times. He was signing his name, "Larry Hodgson," but his pencil broke after the first "o." The city editor, James Gray, reportedly said, "Better let it go at that–'Larry Ho.'" He served as secretary to both
St. Paul mayors Winn Powers and
Vivian R. Irvin, and upon the expiration of Irvin's term, he was elected mayor by a large majority. He served two non-consecutive terms as mayor from 1918 to 1922, and from 1926 to 1930. Hodgson also ran for
governor in 1920, but came third in the race, garnering only 81,293 votes. After Hodgson's death in 1937, his son, Laurence K. Hodgson, edited and published a book called "Howdy Folks: Selections from the Writings, Verse and Speeches of Larry Ho." ==References==