Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Merwin, W. S. (William Stanley Merwin), 1927–2019, American poet and translator, b. New York City. After graduating from Princeton in 1948, he traveled in Europe, working as a tutor and studying Rom...

(Encyclopedia) Hammerstein, Oscar, 2d, 1895–1960, American lyricist and librettist, b. New York City, grad. Columbia, 1916; grandson of Oscar Hammerstein. His first success was Wildflower (1923), with music by Vin...

(Encyclopedia) Wilbur, Richard, 1921–2017, American poet and translator, b. New York City, B.A. Amherst, 1942, M.A. Harvard, 1947. A virtuoso craftsman who wrote with grace and precision in traditional verse forms...

(Encyclopedia) Wilson, August, 1945–2005, American playwright and poet, b. Pittsburgh as Frederick August Kittel, Jr. Largely self-educated, Wilson first attracted wide critical attention with his Broadway debut, ...

(Encyclopedia) Benton Harbor, city (2020 pop. 9,103), Berrien co., SW Mich., on Lake Michigan at the mouth of the St. Joseph River opposite St. Joseph; inc. 1869. A lo...

(Encyclopedia) McCutcheon, John Tinney məkŭchˈən [key], 1870–1949, American cartoonist, b. Tippecanoe co., Ind. He had been associated with the Chicago Record and Record-Herald when in 1903 he joined the staff...

(Encyclopedia) McGill, Ralph Emerson məgĭlˈ [key], 1898–1969, American journalist and publisher, b. E Tenn. A proponent of civil rights, he was expelled from Vanderbilt Univ. for expressing his beliefs. Beginni...

(Encyclopedia) Breuer, Lee,1937-2021, American theater director, b. Philadelphia, PA, as Esser Leopold Breuer. Theatrical director and cofounder of experimental theater troupe, the Mabou Mines, along with composer ...

(Encyclopedia) Stafford, Jean, 1915–79, American writer, b. Covina, Calif., grad. Univ. of Colorado, 1936. Her literary reputation rests primarily on her exquisitely wrought short stories. Both these and her novel...

(Encyclopedia) Darling, Jay Norwood, 1876–1962, American cartoonist, known as “Ding,” b. near Charlevoix, Mich. He worked for the Sioux City, Iowa, Journal, for the Des Moines Register, and from 1917 to 1949 f...