Elmore Leonard. Elmore John Leonard, Jr.
(October 11, 1925 – August 20, 2013) was an American novelist and screenwriter. His earliest novels, published in the 1950s, were Westerns, but Leonard went on to specialize in crime fiction and suspense thrillers, many of which have been adapted into motion pictures. Geoffrey Chaucer. Geoffrey Chaucer (/ˈtʃɔːsər/; c. 1343 – 25 October 1400), known as the Father of English literature, is widely considered the greatest English poet of the Middle Ages and was the first poet to have been buried in Poet's Corner of Westminster Abbey.
While he achieved fame during his lifetime as an author, philosopher, alchemist and astronomer, composing a scientific treatise on the astrolabe for his ten year-old son Lewis, Chaucer also maintained an active career in the civil service as a bureaucrat, courtier and diplomat. Clara Schumann. Clara Schumann (née Clara Josephine Wieck; 13 September 1819 – 20 May 1896) was a German musician and composer, considered one of the most distinguished pianists of the Romantic era.
Pim van Lommel. Pim van Lommel (born 15 March 1943) is a Dutch cardiologist and scientist.
Biography[edit] Van Lommel is best known for his scientific work on the subjects of near-death experiences and consciousness, including a prospective study published in the medical journal The Lancet.[1] He gained public attention as the author of the 2007 Dutch bestseller titled: Eindeloos Bewustzijn: een wetenschappelijke visie op de Bijna-Dood Ervaring[2] (English: Endless Consciousness: A scientific approach to the near-death experience), which has been translated to German, English, French and Spanish.
Dr. Seuss. Theodor Seuss Geisel (/ˈɡaɪzəl/; March 2, 1904 – September 24, 1991) was an American writer, poet, and cartoonist.
He was most widely known for his children's books written and illustrated as Dr. Seuss. He had used the pen name Dr. Theophrastus Seuss in college and later used Theo LeSieg and Rosetta Stone.[2] He was a perfectionist in his work and would sometimes spend up to a year on a book. Geisel's birthday, March 2, has been adopted as the annual date for National Read Across America Day, an initiative on reading created by the National Education Association. Life and career College Geisel attended Dartmouth College, graduating in 1925.[11] At Dartmouth, he joined the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity[4] and the humor magazine Dartmouth Jack-O-Lantern, eventually rising to the rank of editor-in-chief.[4] Early career Essomarine Geisel gained a significant public profile through a program for motor boat lubricants produced by Standard Oil under the brand name Essomarine. World War II-era work.
Neil Gaiman. Anaïs Nin. Anaïs Nin (Spanish: [anaˈis ˈnin]; born Angela Anaïs Juana Antolina Rosa Edelmira Nin y Culmell, February 21, 1903 – January 14, 1977) was an author born to Spanish-Cuban parents in France, where she was also raised.
She spent some time in Spain and Cuba but lived most of her life in the United States where she became an established author. She published journals (which span more than 60 years, beginning when she was 11 years old and ending shortly before her death), novels, critical studies, essays, short stories, and erotica. A great deal of her work, including Delta of Venus and Little Birds, was published posthumously. Terry Pratchett. Pratchett was the UK's best-selling author of the 1990s,[6][7] and has sold over 85 million books worldwide in 37 languages.[8][9] He is currently the second most-read writer in the UK, and seventh most-read non-US author in the US.[10] Pratchett was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1998 and was knighted for services to literature in the 2009 New Year Honours.[11][12] In 2001 he won the annual Carnegie Medal for The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents, the first Discworld book marketed for children.[13][14] He received the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement in 2010.
In December 2007, Pratchett announced that he was suffering from early-onset Alzheimer's disease.[15] Subsequently he made a substantial public donation to the Alzheimer's Research Trust,[16] and filmed a programme chronicling his experiences with the disease for the BBC. Background[edit] Early life[edit] Early career[edit] Current life[edit] Alzheimer's disease[edit] Robert A. Heinlein. Robert Anson Heinlein (/ˈhaɪnlaɪn/ HYN-lyn;[1][2][3] July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was an American science fiction writer. Often called the "dean of science fiction writers",[4] he was one of the most influential and controversial authors of the genre in his time. He set a standard for scientific and engineering plausibility, and helped to raise the genre's standards of literary quality. He was one of the first science fiction writers to break into mainstream magazines such as The Saturday Evening Post in the late 1940s.