Notwithstanding feeling acting was his forte, Robert Ludlum is a phenomenal author who has contributed countless remarkable literary works. Robert Ludlum was born in New York City, New York on May 25, 1927 and raised in New Jersey. Adopted into a wealthy family, his parents were experienced in the business field. Thus, he experienced a stable, comfortable childhood. The renowned Robert Ludlum is the son of Margaret Ludlum, the daughter of and George Hartford Ludlum. Ludlum deeply enjoyed acting and producing stage plays. He married twice; his first wife, Mary Ryducha, was an actress herself though unfortunately lost her battle to cancer in 1996. Soon after, Mr. Ludlum fell in love with another woman, Karen Dunn. He was educated in Connecticut, …show more content…
but traveled back to his home state to pursue his thespian talents on Broadway. Though he adored acting for television and theatrical plays, he discovered his zeal of literature during a break from the pressures of the theater. Robert Ludlum’s career choices varied, granting his initial motive was to perform for playhouses.
From 1944 to 1946, Ludlum served in the United States Marine Corps. In Connecticut, Robert Ludlum was tutored at Cheshire Academy in addition to Rectory School for preparatory education. Afterward, he received a bachelor’s degree in drama while studying at Wesleyan University. He underwent multiple years of teachings to become a world-renowned actor. Shortly following, he was permitted to attend the American National Theatre and Academy, later given the Scroll of Achievement in 1960. One of the settings for his novel Matlock Paper took place in Carlyle University, a fictional version of Wesleyan University. Before developing into a professional novelist, Ludlum was an actor and producer for roughly 20 years. Eventually becoming frustrated from the pressures of the theater, Ludlum devoted all of his time to the art of writing after he undertook his wife’s suggestion. Ludlum originally sought to follow his dream of being a full-time actor, yet writing was his true calling. Robert Ludlum admitted that working in the theater and his experience from producing many genres of plays has provided a foundation for writing; especially for suspense and
mysteries. Prior knowledge on thrillers, whodunits, and others had granted Robert an understanding when it came time to issue his own novel. Publishing his first book in 1971, The Scarlatti Inheritance, subsequently lead to Ludlum’s compositional dedication. Ludlum is foremost known for creating the anti-hero Jason Bourne, in which case is a dangerous man who used to work for the CIA. A majority of his works have since been adapted for film and television. Ludlum wrote novels based off of corrupted societies and governments, publishing modern crime and suspense stories. His motivation for producing books was primarily for the entertainment of his readers. Despite the fact he first wrote books to relieve the stress acquired from running theaters, he strictly enjoyed the delight that came from the people who read his novels. Since then, screen-adapted movies have won or been nominated for awards; not the books themselves however. For example, the movie “The Bourne Supremacy” (2004) was nominated for the USC Scripter Award (2005) and the Edgar Allen Poe Award (2005). Currently the most popular book that he has published is the The Bourne Identity (1980); accompanied by The Bourne Supremacy (1986), and the third being The Bourne Ultimatum (1990).Regrettably, Robert Ludlum died on March 12, 2001 during a recovery from severe burns in Naples, Florida. He may have passed away, nevertheless his books will forever impact those the read and will read them.
Robert E. Lee was the best General for the South, and out smarted every Union General that was put against him. To The South, Lee is like a godly figure to them. He inspired The South even when the North controlled the battlefield, and is still thought highly of by some people in the confederate states. To the North, Lee was a traitor and even lost his citizenship. Although he lost, Lee is still a giant face in history.
Roberts was born in 1905 to a working class family in a Salford slum. He took a position as an engineering apprentice following his completion of school. Following his apprenticeship, he was unemployed for three years, utilizing this time to study languages. After becoming a teacher, Roberts wrote many award winning stories, plays, and scripts. Roberts became a farmer for sixteen years before beginning a career teaching in prisons. Roberts...
Lawrence was a very well educated man, but he did not have the best education until he was in college. He started college at Virginia Union University, an all-black school, where in 1951 he received a degree in chemistry and in science. After graduating he started working as a toxicologist in the medical examiner's office. In 1952, he was drafted into the army and served in the Korean War where he earned the Bronze Star for heroism in combat for ...
Light, Martin. "Sinclair Lewis." American Novelists, 1910-1945. Ed. James J. Martine. Detroit: Gale Research, 1981. Dictionary of Literary Biography Vol. 9. Literature Resource Center. Web. 23 Mar. 2014.
John Steinbeck was born in 1902, in California's Salinas Valley, a region that would eventually serve as the setting for Of Mice and Men, as well as many of his other works. He studied literature and writing at Stanford University. He then moved to New York City and worked as a laborer and journalist for five years, until he completed his first novel in 1929, Cup of Gold. With the publication of Tortilla Flat in 1935, Steinbeck achieved fame and became a popular author. He wrote many novels about the California laboring class. Two of his more famous novels included Of Mice and Men and The Grapes of Wrath. Steinbeck got the title for Of Mice and Men from a line of Robert Burns, a Scottish poet, “The best laid schemes of mice and men often go awry." In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck includes the theme of loyalty and sacrifice between friends. Steinbeck illustrates the loyalty and sacrifice between friends through the friendship of Lennie and George.
As a child, Ray Bradbury loved to read fantasy novels. Inspired by his favorite writers, he longed to become a fantasy writer himself. Bradbury lived during the Great Depression with very little money, therefore he could not put himself through school. Instead, Bradbury went to the library every other day for ten years. During this time, he realized that he wanted to pursue his dream of becoming a writer. To get money, Bradbury started publishing his works in a newspaper. Because he wanted practice, he used several pseudonyms to make it look like he had several authors publishing their stories in his newspaper, but in fact, it was written entirely by Bradbury himself. “Bradbury uses [his] stories not only to entertain, but to cause readers to think about their own lives” (Clark, Tracy). He focused more on the message of his story than the popularity of it. “When ask...
When he was fifteen years old, his mother died from appendicitis. From fifteen years of age to his college years, he lived in an all-white neighborhood. From 1914-1917, he shifted from many colleges and academic courses of study as well as he changed his cultural identity growing up. He studied physical education, agriculture, and literature at a total of six colleges and universities from Wisconsin to New York. Although he never completed a degree, his educational pursuits laid the foundation for his writing career.
Truman Capote was born Truman Streckfus Persons, in New Orleans September 30th 1924. His parents got a divorce when he was four and his mother later remarried and took on the last name of his stepfather. Capote's childhood was extremely insecure. He was handed back and forth between relatives. When Capote was a child he started to write to deal with the loneliness. At age ten, Capote made up his mind to become a professional writer. Because he knew what he wanted to do with his life, Capote shied away from formal schooling. (Breit) By his mid teenage years he was technically accomplished writer. He stopped going to formal school when he was seventeen. He received a job at the New Yorker magazine. There he was just an errand boy but was noticed because of his mannerisms. During the early stages of World War II, Capote's interests still focused on his writing. (Norden p162) In June 1945, his short story 'Miraim'; brought him a lot of attention. It l...
Thomas Lanier Clancy was born on April 1947 at Baltimore, Maryland and grew up in a middle class Irish Catholic dominated neighborhood (Sharp 382). In his childhood years, Clancy was a voracious reader especially of science fiction and military adventure stories. After graduating from Loyola High School in Towson, Maryland in 1965, he joined Loyola College in Baltimore to study English Literature. He had hopes of becoming a writer, and he occasionally submitted short stories for publication, but they were never accepted.
Louis L’Amour was born Louis Dearborn LaMoore on March 22, 1908 as the last of seven children. His father and mother are Dr. Louis Charles LaMoore and Emily Dearborn LaMoore, for the first fifteen years of his life Louis lived in Jamestown, North Dakota; a medium sized farming community in the valley where Pipestem Creek flows into the James River. His grandfather, Abraham Truman Dearborn, told Louis stories of battles in history and his own personal experiences as a soldier. As a child Louis spent a great deal of time in a nearby library where his eldest sister, Edna, was a librarian, he was interested in the study of History and always went beyond the scope that was taught in the schools. In addition to the study of History and Natural Sciences, Louis was interested in the fiction writings of Robert Louis Stevenson, Jack London, Edgar Rice Burroughs and others. The members of the L’Amour family were intelligent and had a part in Louis’ education. Emmy Lou, his sister, taught him how to read, his father taught him about animals, taught him the benefit hard work and the fact that “a man could always find a way to solve a problem”. The basics of learning he got from his mother who had once trained to be a schoolteacher, and from Edna he got insights into libraries and research. His elder brother Parker provided examples of a reporter’s speed and simplicity of prose and the public relations savvy of a veteran political aid. Yale, his second brother, showed Louis a love of life and a gift of improvisation. Louis’ adopted brother John was an example of a natural survivor, quick of wit and sharp of tongue. Hard times uprooted the family from their everyday lives and the family, the father, mother, Louis and john, had to take their fort...
Stephen Crane was one of America’s most influential nineteenth century writers of realism. He was credited for being a novelist, short-story-writer, poet, and journalist. He was born on November 1, 1871, in Newark, New Jersey, as Stephen Townley Crane. Stephen was the youngest sibling of fourteen children (“Stephen Crane Biography”). His writing inspiration came from his family. His mother dedicated her life to social concerns, while his father was a Methodist minister. Two of Crane’s brothers were journalists so it was destined for Stephen Crane to become a writer. His passion came from his parents and the insights from his family life. He attended preparatory school at Claverack College, where he developed a better concept of the Civil War. He attended at Lafayette College and Syracuse University for less than two years. He quit college to become a full-time writer. His first work was Maggie: A Girl of the Streets. In his novel, he used firsthand experiences of poverty. The realism in this novel shows his readers what a realistic writer he was to become later (“Stephen Crane”).
In 1968, Francine Prose graduated from Radcliffe college. She graduated with summa cum laude honors with a Bachelors degree in English. Soon after she graduated in 1969, Prose went on to begin a masters degree program at Harvard University(Carrigan). Prose soon realized that she was not cut out for grad school(Bolicks). Francine Prose left the Harvard program not that long after she joined in the year 1971 (Carrigan). She soon embarked on a trip to Mumbai, India ...
John Griffith London, who is considered by many to be America’s finest author, was born January 12, 1876 in San Francisco, California to an unmarried mother of a wealthy background, Flora Wellman. His father is thought to have been William Chaney, a Journalist, lawyer and major figure in the development of American Astrology. Because Flora was ill, an ex-slave, Virginia Prentiss, who would remain a major maternal influence during the boy’s childhood, raised Jack through infancy. Late in 1876, Flora married John London, a disabled Civil War veteran. The family moved to Oakland, where Jack completed grade school and would develop his love of the outdoors.
Henry Miller, born in December of 1891, spent the majority of his childhood in Brooklyn (”Henry Miller” 1). He attended high school, but never finished college; instead, he worked a variety of jobs that never lasted long, from driving a cab to working in a library (ibid.). In 1917, he ma...
John Steinbeck, popular American author, became interested in literature due to the influence of the novel Le Morte d’Arthur. Steinbeck decided that he wanted to be a writer in high school because of the book. He would often write stories and read them to his friends. In 1925, Steinbeck worked in construction and as a reporter, which helped him gain ideas for his first novel. After working those two jobs, he settled down and started writing serious fiction in California. Steinbeck wrote about the labor issues and other issues he saw in the United States of America. This lead to the first play-novelette he wrote, Of Mice and Men. He considered it be an experiment. Originally Steinbeck wanted to make it a play as well but it failed.