Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) LeHand, Missy (Marguerite Alice LeHand), 1896–1944, personal secretary to Franklin Roosevelt, b. Potsdam, N.Y. She worked for Roosevelt's unsuccessful vice presidential campaign (1920) before she be...

(Encyclopedia) Little Richard, 1935–2020, American musician and singer, b. Macon, Ga., as Richard Wayne Penniman. One of the first rock musicians in the 1950s, he recorded such tunes as “Tutti Frutti,” “Long...

(Encyclopedia) Jerome, William Travers, 1859–1934, American lawyer, b. New York City. Prominent in the cause of reform, he served (1894–95) on the Lexow commission to investigate political corruption and managed...

(Encyclopedia) Johnson, Jack (John Arthur Johnson), 1878–1946, American boxer, b. Galveston, Tex., the son of two ex-slaves. Emerging from the battle royals (dehumanizing fights between blacks for the amusement of...

(Encyclopedia) Kavanaugh, Brett Michael, 1965–, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (2018–), b. Washington, D.C., grad. Yale (B.A. 1987, J.D. 1990). He clerked for Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy a...

(Encyclopedia) Safire, William L. săfˈīrˌ [key], 1929–2009, American journalist and speechwriter, b. New York City as William Safir. A former reporter and public-relations executive, he became a speechwriter (...

(Encyclopedia) Lange, Dorothea, 1895–1965, American photographer, b. Hoboken, N.J. as Dorothea Nutzhorn, adopted her mother's maiden name in her twenties. From 1916 until 1932, Lange operated a portrait studio in ...

(Encyclopedia) Irwin, Robert, 1928–, American painter and sculptor, b. Long Beach, Calif. Irwin was one of the founders of the California-based Light and Space movement. Early in his career, he painted in the abst...

(Encyclopedia) Didion, Joan dĭdˈēŏn [key], 1934–2021, American writer, b. Sacramento, Calif., Univ. of ...

(Encyclopedia) style, in literature, the mysterious yet recognizable result of a successful blending of form with content. Generally speaking, all the arts reflect one of two stylistic tendencies: the classical or t...