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Ford, Betty

(Encyclopedia)Ford, Betty, 1918–2011, American first lady (1974–77), wife of President Gerald Ford, b. Chicago as Elizabeth Anne Bloomer. A candid, outspoken, and popular first lady, she became an effective soc...

Endo, Shusaku

(Encyclopedia)Endo, Shusaku shəsäˈko͝o ĕnˈdō [key], 1923–1996, one of the finest 20th-century Japanese novelists, b. Tokyo. Baptized a Roman Catholic at 11, he is often compared to Graham Greene for his de...

Highsmith, Patricia

(Encyclopedia)Highsmith, Patricia, 1921–95, American novelist, b. Fort Worth, Tex., as Mary Patricia Plangman, grad. Barnard College (B.A. 1942). She first traveled to Europe in 1949 and moved there in 1963, livi...

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, ...

Montrose, James Graham, 5th earl and 1st marquess of

(Encyclopedia)Montrose, James Graham, 5th earl and 1st marquess of mŏntrōzˈ [key], 1612–50, Scottish nobleman and soldier. He succeeded to the earldom in 1626 and, feeling slighted by Charles I, joined the Cov...

Lodge, David

(Encyclopedia)Lodge, David (David John Lodge), 1935–, English novelist and critic, b. London, grad. University College, London (B.A. 1955, M.A. 1959) and the Univ. of Birmingham (Ph.D., 1967). Lodge taught at the...

Maugham, Somerset

(Encyclopedia)Maugham, Somerset (William Somerset Maugham) môm [key], 1874–1965, English writer, b. Paris. He was noted as an expert storyteller and a master of the technique of fiction. An introverted child aff...

Palmer, Nathaniel Brown

(Encyclopedia)Palmer, Nathaniel Brown, 1799–1877, American sea captain and antarctic explorer, b. Stonington, Conn. While on a whaling voyage (1820–21) in the South Shetlands, he commanded the Hero on an explor...

Biddle, Clement

(Encyclopedia)Biddle, Clement, 1740–1814, American Revolutionary soldier, b. Philadelphia. Early in the war, he helped organize the “Quaker Blues,” a company of volunteers. He later served as deputy quarterma...