January 14

Born:

1882 - Hendrik Willem Van Loon
Dutch-American historian and journalist, known for his world history for children The Story of Mankind, which won the first Newbery Award in 1922.

1886 - Hugh Lofting
British author and creator of Dr. Dolittle.

1896 - John Dos Passos
American novelist and artist, known for his USA Trilogy.

1921 - Kenneth Bulmer
British author of many science fiction series.

1925 - Yukio Mishima
Pen name of Japanese author and poet Kimitake Hiraoka, known for his avant-garde writing as well as his ritual suicide.

1926 - Tom Tryon
American actor-turned-author of prose fiction and screenplays.

1947 - Taylor Branch
American author and historian, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for History for Parting the Waters: Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights Movement 1954-63.

1948 - John Lescroart
American author of legal and crime thriller novels.

1949 - Mary Robison
American novelist and short story writer.

1950 - Arthur Byron Cover
American author of sometimes humorous science fiction.

1952 - Maureen Dowd
American author and New York Times columnist.

1957 - Anchee Min
Chinese-American author of fiction and memoirs.





Died:
1898 - Lewis Carroll
1943 - Laura E. Richards
1977 - Anaïs Nin
2000 - Leonard Weisgard