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Friendly, Fred W.

(Encyclopedia)Friendly, Fred W., 1915–98, American broadcaster and author, b. New York City as Ferdinand Friendly Wachenheimer. He began his career at age 22 at a radio station in Providence where he wrote, produ...

Snodgrass, W. D.

(Encyclopedia)Snodgrass, W. D. (William DeWitt Snodgrass), 1926–2009, American poet and translator, b. Wilkinsburg, Pa., grad. Univ. of Iowa, 1959. He is particularly known for his debut book, Heart's Needle (195...

Smith, W. Eugene

(Encyclopedia)Smith, W. Eugene (William Eugene Smith), 1918–78, American photojournalist, b. Wichita, Kan. Smith is considered one of the principal masters of modern photojournalism. The distorted newspaper cover...

Merwin, W. S.

(Encyclopedia)Merwin, W. S. (William Stanley Merwin), 1927–2019, American poet and translator, b. New York City. After graduating from Princeton in 1948, he traveled in Europe, working as a tutor and studying Rom...

Griffith, D. W.

(Encyclopedia)Griffith, D. W. (David Llewelyn Wark Griffith), 1875–1948, American movie director and producer, b. La Grange, Ky. Griffith was the first major American film director. He began his film career as an...

Moore, Thomas Sturge

(Encyclopedia)Moore, Thomas Sturge, 1870–1944, English author. Although his themes were classical and conservative, his poetic technique was innovative. His first volume of poetry, The Vinedresser, appeared in 18...

Robinson, Lennox

(Encyclopedia)Robinson, Lennox, 1886–1958, Irish dramatist. From 1910 to 1923 he was manager of the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, and he served as director there from 1923 until his death. The comedy The White Headed ...

Auden, W. H.

(Encyclopedia)Auden, W. H. (Wystan Hugh Auden) ôˈdən [key], 1907–73, Anglo-American poet, b. York, England, educated at Oxford. A versatile, vigorous, and technically skilled poet, Auden ranks among the major ...

Irish literary renaissance

(Encyclopedia)Irish literary renaissance, late 19th- and early 20th-century movement that aimed at reviving ancient Irish folklore, legends, and traditions in new literary works. The movement, also called the Celti...

Cornell, Alonzo B.

(Encyclopedia)Cornell, Alonzo B. kôrnĕlˈ [key], 1832–1904, American businessman and politician, b. Ithaca, N.Y. Cornell was a director (1868–69) and vice president (1870–76) of the Western Union Telegraph ...