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Clancy, Tom

(Encyclopedia)Clancy, Tom (Thomas Leo Clancy, Jr.), 1947–2013, American popular novelist, b. Baltimore, grad. Loyola Univ. Maryland (B.A., 1969). While working as an insurance agent he wrote The Hunt for Red Octo...

Glasgow, Ellen

(Encyclopedia)Glasgow, Ellen glăsˈgō [key], 1873–1945, American novelist, b. Richmond, Va. In revolt against the romantic treatment of Southern life, Glasgow presented in fiction a social history of Virginia s...

Norris, Frank

(Encyclopedia)Norris, Frank (Benjamin Franklin Norris), 1870–1902, American novelist, b. Chicago. After studying in Paris, at the Univ. of California (1890–94), and at Harvard, he spent several years as a war c...

Wheelwright, John

(Encyclopedia)Wheelwright, John, c.1592–1679, American Puritan clergyman, founder of Exeter, N.H., b. Lincolnshire, England. He studied at Cambridge and was vicar (1623–33) of Bilsby. Suspended by Archbishop La...

Hoover, J. Edgar

(Encyclopedia)Hoover, J. Edgar (John Edgar Hoover), 1895–1972, American administrator, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), b. Washington, D.C. Shortly after he was admitted to the bar, he enter...

Gould, Jay

(Encyclopedia)Gould, Jay, 1836–92, American speculator, b. Delaware co., N.Y. A country-store clerk and surveyor's assistant, he rose to control half the railroad mileage in the Southwest, New York City's elevate...

Maazel, Lorin Varencove

(Encyclopedia)Maazel, Lorin Varencove, 1930–2014, American conductor, b. Neuilly-sur-Seine, France. A musical prodigy, he spent his childhood in Los Angeles, where he made his conducting debut at nine and his vio...

Mencken, H. L.

(Encyclopedia)Mencken, H. L. (Henry Louis Mencken) mĕngˈkən, mĕnˈ– [key], 1880–1956, American editor, author, and critic, b. Baltimore, studied at the Baltimore Polytechnic. Probably America's most influen...

Foyt, A. J.

(Encyclopedia)Foyt, A. J. (Anthony Joseph Foyt, Jr.), 1935–, American auto-racing driver, b. Houston. Foyt was the first person to win the Indianapolis 500 race four times (1961, 1964, 1967, 1977). He also won th...

Eberhart, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Eberhart, Richard ĕbˈərhärtˌ [key], 1904–2005, American poet, b. Austin, Minn., grad. Dartmouth (1926) and Cambridge (1929, 1933). He taught at various universities before becoming a professor ...