Pío Baroja (1872 - 1956)

Author. Noted Spanish writer, born in San Sebastián (País Vasco). He was part of the Generation of 1898. He is remembered for his books “La Busca”, “Las Inquietudes de Shanti Andía”, “El Mundo es Ansí”, “El Arbol de la Ciencia” and “Zalacaín, el Aventurero.” (bio by: José L Bernabé Tronchoni)

Natalie Clifford Barney (1876 - 1972)

Poet, Memoirist and Epigrammatist. Her father, Albert Clifford Barney, inherited a railroad fortune, which allowed Natalie to move in the highest social and diplomatic circles. High society and its rigid protocal bored her so she was eager to pursue her own adventures. As a child, she had visited Europe many times, and when she was […]

William Barnes (1801 - 1886)

Poet. The son of a farmer, he was born at Bagber, near Sturminster in North Dorset, England. He was educated locally and worked as a clerk until 1823 when he became a schoolmaster. He married in 1827 and began working toward a degree in divinity at Saint John’s College in Cambridge on a part-time basis […]

Peter Barnes (1931 - 2004)

British playwright. His most famous drama is “The Ruling Class.” His best known play was Red Roses which won an Olivier Award for best play in the early 80s. One of his last completed screenplays is to air on Granada television in 2004. Based on his own life, the 2-part drama, titled Babies, tells the […]

Margaret Ayer Barnes (1886 - 1967)

Novelist, Playwright. She attended Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania and took up writing after a car accident she was in broke her back. From 1926 to 1930 she wrote several short stories. In 1931 she won the Pulitzer Prize for her book, “Years Of Grace.” Her other books include, “Dishonored Lady” (1947) and “Westward Passage” […]

Djuna Barnes (1892 - 1982)

Writer/Journalist: She was home schooled as a child. She attended Pratt Institute and Art Students League. She was a writer and illustrator for the Brooklyn Eagle. She published her first poetry book, “The Book of Repulsive Women” in 1915. By 1919, 3 of her plays were producted at the Provincetown Players. She published “A Book” […]

Mary E Barnard (1909 - 2001)

Mary E Barnard Mary Ethel Barnard was an American poet, biographer and Greek-to-English translator. She is known for her elegant rendering of the works of Sappho, a translation which has never gone out of print. Paideuma: A Journal Devoted to Ezra Pound Scholarship, Issue 94, was exclusively dedicated to her work and her correspondence with […]

Arturo Barea (1897 - 1957)

Spanish Writer. He was born in Badajoz (Extremadura, Spain) and died in Faringdon (England). He was forced to exile during Spanish Civil War and came to live on state of LordFaringdon. This experience marked his work, and he wrote some books about the Spanish Civil War. His masterpiece is the trilogy La Forja de un […]

Henri Barbusse (1873 - 1935)

Author. His novel of the First World War (‘Le Feu’ – ‘Under Fire’) won the Prix Goncourt and has remained a classic. (bio by: David Conway)

Jules Barbey d’Aurevilly (1808 - 1889)

Writer, he was transferred in 1926 to St Sauveur, le vicomte’s cemetery, in Normandy.

James “The Urban Peasant” Barber (1923 - 2007)

Author, Cook, Television Show Host. He gained international fame as “The Urban Peasant” with a culinary program broadcast in over 120 countries. The show ran for ten years on CBC in Canada and aired on PBS in the United States. Mr. Barber also wrote 12 cookbooks, two restaurant guides, a children’s book and regularly contributed […]

Anna Laetitia Aikin Barbauld (1743 - 1825)

She was a prominent English Romantic poet, essayist, and children’s author. She was the daughter of a classics tutor at Warrington Academy who won respect and admiration from her father’s colleagues for her intellectual skills. She became a respected poet and essayist. In 1774 she married a minister and former academy student, Rochement Barbauld. A […]

Amiri Baraka (1934 - 2014)

Poet and Playwright. Born Everett Leroy (later LeRoi) Jones, he adopted the Muslim name Imamu Amear Baraka (later changed to Amiri Baraka) in 1967. A writer on the edges of the Beat Movement and a follower of Malcolm X during the black liberation movement, Baraka was both influential and controversial. Through his poetry, plays, and […]

Theodore de Banville (1823 - 1891)

Poet. His most famous work of poetry, 1857 “Odes funambulesques”, was widely praised in its time and is considered a classic of French poetry in the Modern age.

Herman Bang (1857 - 1912)

Writer. He was born in Als (Denmark) and died in Ogden City (Utah). Active as an author, journalist, stage director and reader up until the time of his death. His most famous novel, Haabløse Slægter (1880, Generations Without Hope) was condemned as pornographic and the book was banned. His other books include Excentriske Noveller (Eccentric […]

Hubert Howe Bancroft (1832 - 1918)

Historian.  Authored 39 volumes of the history of the West, 11 volumes on California (containing 8,800 pages).  Banned from the Society of California Pioneers for reporting the truth about John Sutter, John C. Freemont and other paragons of the past.  Family links:  Parents:  Azariah Ashley Bancroft (1798 – 1885)  Lucy Damaris Howe Bancroft (1799 – […]

George Bancroft (1800 - 1891)

Historian, Statesman. Often called the father of American history, he is best known for his historical series “History of the United States.”  Family links:  Parents:  Aaron Bancroft (1755 – 1839)  Lucretia Chandler Bancroft (1765 – 1839)  Spouse:  Elizabeth Davis Bancroft (1803 – 1886)  Siblings:  Eliza Bancroft Davis (1791 – 1872)*  Thomas Chandler Bancroft (1796 – […]

Honoré de Balzac (1799 - 1850)

Author.  He is considered the founder of the realistic school of French Literature.  Balzac was the first great writer to explore the influence of environment on human beings,  and to reveal the complex bonds that tie man to society.  His fame rests on “The Human Comedy”,  a series of nearly 100 novels and novellas.  Together […]

Konstantin Balmont (1867 - 1942)

Poet, Translator. Once regarded as a major figure of the “Silver Age” of Russian Literature. He was associated with the Symbolist movement but was primarily a lyricist; his imagery was colorful and impressionistic, his rhythms inherently melodious.  The books “Let Us Be Like the Sun” (1903) and “Love Alone” (1903) represent Balmont at his finest. […]

Sullivan Ballou (1829 - 1861)

Civil War Union Army Officer. He served as Major of the 2nd Rhode Island Volunteer Infantry. On July 14, 1861, Ballou wrote an eloquent letter to his wife predicting his death. He was wounded at the First Battle of Bull Run on July 21, and died from his injuries a week later. His sentiments in […]

James Graham Ballard (1930 - 2009)

Author. He is best known for his novels “Crash” (1973) and “Empire of the Sun” (1984), both of which became motion picture adaptations. He was born James Graham Ballard in Shanghai, China into an English family. As a child he endured life while in an internment camp under Japanese occupation. These events were to become […]

John Ball (1911 - 1988)

Author. A modern crime novelist, he wrote the ‘Virgil Tibbs’ series of books about a Black homicide investigator from Pasadena. The most well renowned was “In The Heat Of The Night” (1965), becoming a theatrical film in 1967 starring Sidney Portier and Rod Steiger and a television series in the late 1980s which featured Howard […]

James Arthur Baldwin (1924 - 1987)

Author.  Family links:  Parents:  Emma Berdis Joynes Baldwin (1900 – 1999)  Spouse:  Lucien Happersberger (1932 – 2010)* *Calculated relationshipCause of death: Stomach cancer

Faith Baldwin (1893 - 1978)

Author. A native of New Rochelle, New York, she is considered one of the most successful writers of light fiction in the 20th century whose works targeted an audience of middle-class women. They include “Skyscraper,” “Alimony,” “No Private Heaven,” “American Family,” “Twenty-Four Hours A Day,” “White Collar Girl,” “Change Of Heart,” “The Office Wife,” “Adam’s […]

John L. Balderston (1889 - 1954)

Screenwriter, Playwright. Born John Lloyd Balderston, he began his career as a journalist around 1912 while still a student at Columbia University. During World War I he was European war correspondent for a newspaper syndicate. After the war he stayed in Europe, working as a foreign correspondent, editor for the Outlook magazine and finally head […]

Nigel Balchin (1908 - 1970)

Acclaimed Author. Born in Potterne in Wiltshire, the youngest son of a shop owner. He was educated at Dauntsey’s School in the nearby town of Devizes and at Peterhouse in Cambridge, where he obtained a First Class Honours degree in Natural Sciences. His first job was as a consultant to Rowntree’s Chocolate in York, where […]

Bela Balazs (1884 - 1949)

Hungarian film critic, writer and poet, born Herbert Bauer. He studied Hungarian and German in school. He wrote his first film in 1924 called Der Sichtbare Mensch (The Visible Man). He then helped Leni Riefenstahl direct her first film, Das Blaue Licht in 1932. One of his best known films is Somewhere in Europe written […]

Ray Stannard Baker (1870 - 1946)

Author of numerous books on the life of President Woodrow Wilson. He was also the technical adviser during the production by 20th Century Fox Company on the motion picture “Wilson.” (bio by: Laurie)  Family links:  Parents:  Joseph Stannard Baker (1838 – 1912)  Alice Potter Baker (1844 – 1883)  Siblings:  Ray Stannard Baker (1870 – 1946) […]

Karle Wilson Baker (1878 - 1960)

Poet. The 3rd person to be named a fellow to the Texas Institute of Letters. She was the daughter of Kate Florence Montgomery Wilson and William Thomas Murphey Wilson. She attended the Little Rock Academy, and Ouachita Baptist College. When she was nineteen, she enrolled at the University of Chicago where she studied under poet […]

Kage Baker (1952 - 2010)

Kage Baker Science Fiction and Fantasy Author. She shall be best remembered for the “Company” series, a group of 11 novels and numerous short stories about a troupe of time-traveling cyborgs who plunder history on behalf of their 24th. century masters. Living in southern California her entire life, she spent many years in theater, as […]