Friedrich Nietzsche, Philosopher

“Nietzsche’s actual thought is a…system, at the beginning of which stands the death of God…the ensuing nihilism, and at its end the self-surmounting of...

Pearl Buck, 1938 Winner of Nobel Prize in Literature

Pearl Buck is best known for her novel “The Good Earth,” which received the Pulitzer Prize in 1935 and helped earn her the Nobel...

E.B. White, Essayist and Author of “Charlotte’s Web”

Revered by children for books such as “Charlotte’s Web” and “Stuart Little,” renowned among writers for the invaluable Strunk & White’s “The Elements of...

Rupert Murdoch, Media Mogul

Rupert Murdoch and his conglomerate News Corporation own divisions in virtually every form of today’s media: book publishing, newspapers and television. Whether fan or...

Allen Ginsberg, Beat Poet

Allen Ginsberg helped launch a literary revolution in the United States during the mid-20th century. As a central figure in the Beat generation, Ginsberg’s...

W.S. Gilbert, Operetta Librettist for “The Pirates of Penzance”

William Schwenck Gilbert, one half of the successful Gilbert and Sullivan duo, had a knack for satire and an eye for staging, producing comic...

Milton Friedman, Nobel Prize-Winning Economist

Milton Friedman was inspired by the dire financial circumstances of the Great Depression, and became convinced that economic burdens could be lifted through encouraging...

J.R.R. Tolkien, Author of “The Lord of the Rings”

Philologist and English professor J.R.R. Tolkien popularized an entire genre of literature when he wrote his fantasy epic “The Lord of the Rings,” a...

Henry VIII, King of England

Henry VIII was larger than life, famous for his seemingly insatiable appetite for women, war, hunting and food. Henry’s Early Days Henry VIII was born on...

Peggy Guggenheim, Art Collector

American heiress Peggy Guggenheim was considered to be as intriguing as the art she collected. One of the pioneering collectors of Abstract Expressionism, she...