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Travers, P. L.

(Encyclopedia)Travers, P. L. (Pamela Lyndon Travers), 1899–1996, British author best known for her Mary Poppins children's books, b. Australia as Helen Lyndon Goff. She worked as an actress and journalist and mov...

Patterson, P. J.

(Encyclopedia)Patterson, P. J. (Percival James Patterson), 1935–, Jamaican political leader, prime minister of Jamaica (1992–2006). A lawyer, he became an active member of the People's National party (PNP) in t...

Wodehouse, P. G.

(Encyclopedia)Wodehouse, P. G. (Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse) wo͝odˈhousˌ [key], 1881–1975, English-American novelist and humorist. After a short period, first working at a bank and then writing for a London...

Cronquist, Arthur C.

(Encyclopedia)Cronquist, Arthur C. krŏngˈkwĭst, krŏnˈ– [key], 1919–92, American systematic botanist. He was the author of two introductory botanical textbooks, with Henry Allan Gleason: The Natural Geograp...

Escher, M. C.

(Encyclopedia)Escher, M. C. (Maurits Cornelis Escher) ĕsˈkhər [key], 1898–1972, Dutch artist. Primarily a graphic artist, Escher composed works notable for their irony, often with impossible perspectives rende...

Fields, W. C.

(Encyclopedia)Fields, W. C. (William Claude Fields), 1880–1946, American comic actor, b. Philadelphia as Claude William Dukenfield. He began his career as a juggler, and much later appeared in the Ziegfeld Follie...

Forester, C. S.

(Encyclopedia)Forester, C. S. (Cecil Scott Forester), 1899–1966, British novelist, b. Cairo, Egypt, educated in England. A prolific and popular author, C. S. Forester is best known for his novels of the royal nav...

Handy, W. C.

(Encyclopedia)Handy, W. C. (William Christopher Handy), 1873–1958, American songwriter and band leader, b. Florence, Ala. Largely self-taught, Handy began his career as a cornet player in a minstrel show in 1896,...

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