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Narayan, R. K.

(Encyclopedia)Narayan, R. K. (Rasipuram Krishnaswami Narayan) nərīˈyän [key], 1906–2001, Indian novelist, b. Madras (now Chennai). Narayan, who wrote in English, published his first novel, Swami and Friends, ...

Narayanan, K. R.

(Encyclopedia)Narayanan, K. R. (Raman Kocheril Narayanan) näräyänänˈ [key], 1921–2005, Indian government official. An “untouchable” or Dalit (see Harijans), he nonetheless graduated from the Univ. of Tra...

Dick, Philip K.

(Encyclopedia)Dick, Philip K. (Philip Kindred Dick), 1928–82, American science-fiction writer, b. Chicago. Dick often wrote of the psychological states of individuals caught in altered realities where the everyda...

Tolkien, J. R. R.

(Encyclopedia)Tolkien, J. R. R. (John Ronald Reuel Tolkien) tälˈkēn, tōlˈ– [key], 1892–1973, British novelist, b. South Africa. A fantasy writer and Oxford don, Tolkien wrote The Hobbit (1937), adapted fro...

Narayan, Jaya Prakash

(Encyclopedia)Narayan, Jaya Prakash, 1902–79. Indian political leader. He was a founder (1934) of the Congress Socialist party and later (1952) the Indian Socialist party. He was an opponent of Indira Gandhi and ...

Mittal, Lakshmi Narayan

(Encyclopedia)Mittal, Lakshmi Narayan, 1950–, Indian steel tycoon. He worked at his father's small Kolkata (Calcutta) steel mill before he bought (1976) a mill in Indonesia and began to build his steel empire. He...

Rao, Raja

(Encyclopedia)Rao, Raja rou [key], 1909–2006, Indian novelist, b. Hassan, Mysore (now Karnataka), as Raja. Rao took his surname as an adult, and was educated in India and France and for many years divided his ti...

Chesterton, G. K.

(Encyclopedia)Chesterton, G. K. (Gilbert Keith Chesterton), 1874–1936, English author. Conservative, even reactionary, in his thinking, Chesterton was a convert (1922) to Roman Catholicism and its champion. He ha...

Kellogg, W. K.

(Encyclopedia)Kellogg, W. K. (Will Keith Kellogg): see Kellogg, John Harvey. ...

Williams, C. K.

(Encyclopedia)Williams, C. K. (Charles Kenneth Williams), 1936–2015, American poet, b. Newark, N.J., grad. Univ. of Pennsylvania, 1959. He wrote more than 20 books of poetry, rich in detail, with complex syntax a...