Saul Bellow, American Novelist

“The backbone of 20th-century American literature”—this was novelist Philip Roth’s assessment of Saul Bellow. His struggle with modernism, his Jewish upbringing, his feelings of...

Catherine Hughes, Radio and TV Executive

From a high school dropout and single teenaged mother to the first woman owner of a number one radio station and the first African-American...

Oskar Schindler, Keeper of “List” That Saved 1,200 Jews

Oskar Schindler was a Nazi party member, philanderer and war profiteer who saved approximately 1,200 Jews during the Holocaust. Schindler is now revered as...

Gwendolyn Brooks, First African-American Pulitzer Prize Winner

Gwendolyn Brooks, renowned poet, was the author of many memorable works centered on the black experience in America and the issues of the Civil...

Marian Wright Edelman, Children’s Defense Fund Founder

Crowned by Harper’s Bazaar as “America’s Universal Mother,” and a winner of the Library of Congress Living Legend award, Marian Wright Edelman has dedicated...

Cal Ripken, Jr., Baseball’s “Iron Man”

Cal Ripken, Jr. revolutionized the shortstop position while playing in a record 2,632 consecutive games, all for the Baltimore Orioles. His record-breaking 2,130th straight...

Michael Jordan, Basketball Icon

Michael Jordan was perhaps the most dominant player in NBA history, leading the Chicago ff it, Jordan’s image was marketed to a global audience...

Mark Spitz, Swimming Legend

Mark Spitz was a brash swimming prodigy who overcame disappointment in the 1968 Olympics to win seven gold medals in 1972, setting a record...

Percival Lowell, First to Imagine Life on Mars

A naturally gifted mathematician, Percival Lowell shunned convention to pursue theories that walked the line between science fiction and scientific prophecy. He was compelled...

Harvey Pekar, Author of the ‘American Splendor’ Comic Books

Harvey Pekar has made a career out of being an ordinary man. As a comic book writer, he documented the most mundane details of...