Studs Terkel, Author and Oral Historian

For 45 years, Studs Terkel conducted interviews with people from all walks of life. Through his radio program and published oral histories, Terkel was...

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...

Pablo Picasso, Painter

From his Cubist works to his famous Blue Period, painter Pablo Picasso changed the face of art forever. Pablo Picasso's Early Days Pablo Ruiz Picasso was...

Warren Buffett, the “Oracle of Omaha”

Warren Buffett, was the richest man in the world in 2008. But despite his fortune, the American investor remains dedicated to the ethics of...

Lauren Bacall, Actress

Lauren Bacall got her start at age 19 as a sultry screen siren alongside future husband Humphrey Bogart, 25 years her senior. She went...

Ralph Waldo Emerson, Father of Transcendentalism

Ralph Waldo Emerson—essayist, minister, poet and philosopher from New England—was the founding father of the transcendentalist movement and the creator of many literary works...

William Faulkner, American Novelist

William Faulkner, revered modernist writer, historian and sociologist, is known for capturing the raw beauty of the rural South in all its dark complexity....

Jimi Hendrix, Rock Guitarist, Singer and Songwriter

Jimi Hendrix revolutionized rock during the late 1960s with his songwriting, guitar playing and outrageous stage moves. Although he died young, his music and...

Paul Robeson, Entertainer and Social Activist

Paul Robeson was a renaissance man. Revered for his abilities on stage, on the football field, in the classroom and in the campaign for...

Samuel Johnson, Dictionary Writer and Biographer

Not only did Samuel Johnson’s work define the literature of the 18th century, his dictionary defined the language. Sometimes called “the great convulsionary” for...