Elliott Baker (1922 - 2007)

Screenwriter, Author. He is best known for his novel “A Fine Madness”,  which was made into a 1966 film with Sean Connery and Joanne Woodward. After starting his career during the 1950s writing for such shows as “Robert Montgomery Presents”, “Armchair Theatre”,  and “Way Out”, Baker wrote screenplays for the films “Luv”, (1967), “Viva Max!”, […]

Juan Jacobo Bajarlía (1914 - 2005)

Poet, essayist and novelist. He was one of the introducers of vanguardism in Argentina. Also a lawyer, wrote “Los Números de la Muerte,” “La Esfinge,” “Pierrot,” “Monteagudo,” “Los Robots” and many other books. Internationally, is best remembered for winning in 1964 the award “Mystery Magazine Ellery Queen.” (bio by: 380W)

Beryl Margaret Bainbridge (1934 - 2010)

Author. She produced 18 novels of the ‘dark comedic thriller’ and historic fiction genre. Raised in Liverpool under unpleasant familial circumstances that appeared frequently in her books, she was expelled from the Merchant Taylor’s School at 14 over the explicit sexual content of some poetry she had written. After finishing her education at a different […]

Charles W. Bailey, II (1929 - 2012)

Journalist, Author. Best known for his co-penning of the political thriller “Seven Days in May” (1962), which became a 1964 motion picture adaptation starring Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas. Born Charles Waldo Bailey, II, the native of New England was born into a diversely talented family, his father was a university administrator, his mother a […]

Eduard Bagritsky (1895 - 1934)

Poet.  One of the few Soviet authors to write in the late  romantic tradition.  He celebrated post-revolutionary life in the USSR with an exuberant yet unsentimental lyricism.  His long narrative poem “The Lay of Opanas” (1926),  written in the style of a Ukrainian folk epic and set during the Russian Civil War,  is considered his […]

Enid Bagnold (1889 - 1981)

Author. She was born in Rochester, Kent, England. During First World War, she worked as a nurse and later, as a voluntary driver. She reflected her experiences in her books. She is best remembered for works such as “National Velvet,” “The Chalk Garden,” “A Matter of Gravity,” “The Difficulty of Getting Married,” “The Happy Foreigner” […]

Richard Baer (1928 - 2008)

Television Screenwriter. Born in New York City, he contributed to some of the most popular programs from the 1950s into the 1980s, and earned an Emmy Award-nomination for series “Hennesey”. Baer began his career writing for series “The Life of Riley” and had script credits with, “Leave It to Beaver”, “Have Gun- Will Travel”, “The […]

Arthur “Bugs” Baer (1886 - 1969)

Journalist and Humorist. Born into a family of French origin, he graduated from “Artillery Officers School” in Louisville, Kentucky. He later began his career at the Washington Post as a sports journalist. His talents as cartoonist and humorist was soon regarded by the public for having designed the body of baseball players with the look […]

Lode Baekelmans (1879 - 1965)

Flemish writer.

John Haden Badley (1865 - 1967)

Author, Educator. Born in Dudley, Worcestershire, England son of Dr. James Payton Badley and Laura Elizabeth Best his wife. He was the grandson of John Badley, F.R.C.S one of the original 300 fellows of the Royal College of Surgery. Early in life he saw the poverty and squalor of many working class in the Midlands. […]

James Bacon (1914 - 2010)

Columnist, Author, Actor. Born James Richard Hughes Bacon, the son of a journalist, he studied at the University of Notre Dame and Syracuse University from where he received his degree in Journalism; he began his career initially as an intern with the South Bend News-Times, before joining the Associated Press. Following service in the US […]

Delia Salter Bacon (1811 - 1859)

Author. She became convinced that works attributed to William Shakespeare were actually written by Francis Bacon, Edmund Spenser, and Sir Walter Raleigh, who, for political reasons, credited them to an obscure actor named William Shakespeare. She published “The Philosophy of the Plays of Shakespeare Unfolded” in 1857, but became insane immediately after. Her theories have […]

Benjamin Franklin Bache (1769 - 1798)

Journalist. The grandson of statesman Benjamin Franklin, he was known as “Benny” to his grandfather, who doted on his namesake. He and cousin William Temple, joined their grandfather to France, receiving an education in there and in Switzerland. When Franklin died in 1790, Benjamin Bache at his bedside. With the inheritance Franklin left him, Bache […]

Harivansh Rai Bachchan (1907 - 2003)

Poet, Author. His poetry collection entitled “Madhushala” was published in 1935. He was the first Indian to graduate from Cambridge in the UK and later became a professor of english at the Allahabad University in India from 1941 to 1952. He is also credited with translating the work of Shakespeare into Hindi. Some of his […]

Mihály Babits (1883 - 1941)

Noted Hungarian Poet. Founder of the literary periodical NYUGAT. (bio by: G. N.)

Isaac Babel (1894 - 1940)

Author.  A master of the short story,  he is regarded by many as the greatest Russian writer of the 1920s. Born in Odessa, Ukraine, to a family of Jewish merchants, he began writing as a teenager under the influence of Maupassant. In 1916 Babel met author Maxim Gorky, who published two of his stories but […]

Bernie Babcock (1868 - 1962)

Author. She was a playwright, novelist, and journalist who published around 40 books over a long literary career, while founding a natural history museum and the Arkansas Historical Society. Born Julia Burnelle Smade, she was raised in Russellville, Arkansas, from the time she was a toddler. Bernie did well in school, though the imagination she […]

Vital Aza (1851 - 1912)

Author. He was born in Pola de Lena, Asturias. He began writing for the newpapers, but soon, he triumphed with his comedic playwrights. He is remembered for “Basta de Matemáticas,” “Aprobados y Suspensos,” “Con la Música a Otra Parte,” “El Rey Que Rabió” and his poetry books “Todo en Broma,” “Bagatelas” and “Frivolidades.” He died […]

Marcel André Aymé (1902 - 1967)

Author. A novelist and essayist, his most famous works are “La jument verte” (The Green Mare), “La passe-muraille” (The Man Who Walked Through Walls). He was also active in the theatre and in movies as a playwright. (bio by: Apats)

George Axelrod (1922 - 2003)

Noted American writer for Broadway and Hollywood. He wrote “The Seven Year Itch,” “Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter,” “Goodbye Charlie,” “Phffft,” and the film scripts for “Bus Stop,” “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” and “The Manchurian Candidate.” He also wrote some novels such as “Beggar’s Choice” and “Where Am I Now When I Need Me.”  (bio by: […]

Wilbert Vere Awdry (1911 - 1997)

Author. He was the creator of Thomas the Tank Engine,  a popular character in children’s fiction.  Awdry originally invented the stories as a way of entertaining his young son Christopher as he recovered from scarlet fever. The first book of the series,  “The Three Railway Engines”, was published in 1945. (bio by: John Byrne)

Arkady Averchenko (1881 - 1925)

Author,  Editor.  One of Russia’s most popular satirists in the years before the 1917 Revolution.  In his hundreds of short stories he used farcical situations and grotesque characters to make pungent observations about urban middle class life of his era.  Arkady Timofeevich Averchenko was born in Sevastapol,  Crimea,  the son of an impoverished merchant.  He […]

Lottie Dolores Hill Autry (1936 - 1997)

Author, Historian. She was a noted genealogist, author of “Linwood Cemetery” and several other books of Georgia and Alabama local histories. She was the first uniformed female law enforcement officer in Columbus,Ga and served in all three branches, Marshals Office, Sheriffs Office and the Police Department.The Historic Linwood Foundation has named their annual award to […]

Jacques Nicolas Augustin Thierry (1795 - 1856)

Historian.

W. H. Auden (1907 - 1973)

W.H. Auden was a British poet, author and playwright best known as a leading literary figure in the 20th century for his poetry. Known for his chameleon-like ability to write poems in almost every verse form, Auden’s travels in countries torn by political strife influenced his early works. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1948. […]

Cecile Aubry (1928 - 2010)

Actress, Author. She followed a brief career as a silver screen sex kitten with success as a writer of children’s stories. Born Anne-Jose Madeleine Henriette Benard, she initially performed as a dancer and became an overnight star as the title lead of Henri-Georges Clouzot’s 1949 “Manon” which won the Lion d’or at the Venice Film […]

Philippe-Joseph Aubert de Gaspé (1786 - 1871)

Author, Lawyer, Seigneur. Philippe-Joseph Aubert de Gaspé is most remembered as the author of the iconic novel “Les Anciens Canadiens” (“The Canadians of Old”). He was the son of seigneur Pierre-Ignace Aubert de Gaspé, and came from a distinguished family that had been ennobled by Louis XIV in 1693. He received his classical education at […]

Max Aub (1903 - 1972)

Author. Among his works are “Los Poemas Cotidianos,” “Espejo de Avaricia,” “La Gallina Ciega,” “Juego de Cartas,” and “El Laberinto Mágico” that includes “Campo Cerrado,” “Campo Abierto,” and “Campo de Sangre.” (bio by: José L Bernabé Tronchoni)

Hüseyin Nihal Atsız (1905 - 1975)

Writer. He graduated from Dar-ül Fünun (now Istanbul University) in 1931. He worked as a teacher at various schools in Turkey until 1944, when he was charged with agitation because of criticisms of various political figures. After a few court cases and one and one-half years in jail, he was freed in 1947. From 1949 […]

William-Henry Atherton (1867 - 1950)

Canadian historian. Born on November 15, 1867, in England. In his childhood, he expressed a great interest for archives and History. So he studied in those fields and began to teach the classic authors and diction while getting interested in theatre. After having obtained a considerable success in teaching in England, he emigrated to Canada […]