Archive for Writers

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William S. Burroughs

Posted in Bellefontaine Cemetery with tags , , , on December 26, 2013 by Cade

burroughs1February 5, 1914 – August 2, 1997

William Seward Burroughs II was a highly influential and controversial American writer of novels, essays, short stories and poems. His love of subversion and satire coupled with his outlandish personal experiences made him one of the more colorful and unique voices of the 20th Century. A prominent member/founder of the Beat movement, his most famous works include Naked Lunch, Junkie and Queer. Burroughs was well involved with fellow Beats Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg, at times living with one or the other in various New York and Paris locales. He was also big into drugs. Like heavy, heroin and morphine-type drugs. Continue reading →

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Bob Kane

Posted in Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills with tags , on December 17, 2013 by Cade

kane2October 24, 1915 – November 3, 1998

He created Batman. What have you done? Continue reading →

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Oscar Wilde

Posted in Père Lachaise Cemetery with tags , on October 26, 2013 by Cade

wilde1October 16, 1854 – November 30, 1900

Ever hear the term “The Gay Nineties”? Well, the British counterpart to the American decade of decadence at the end of the 19th century was deemed the “Naughty Nineties.”

Enter Oscar Wilde.

Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish-born (you don’t say?) writer who was known for his wit and flamboyant personality. His literary masterworks include his lone novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray and his most famous play, The Importance of Being Earnest. But enough of the boring stuff…Wilde spent the first half of the so-called “Naughty Nineties” in London embroiled in an affair with Lord Alfred Douglas. A fact the Douglas family was none too thrilled about. Wilde was publicly outed – practicing homosexuality was illegal at the time – and sentenced to 2 years of hard labor in prison. Prison life vastly disagreed with Wilde’s sense of aesthetics and art and all things opulent and his health rapidly declined. Continue reading →

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Morey Amsterdam

Posted in Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills with tags , , , on October 17, 2013 by Cade

amsterdam1December 14, 1908 – October 27, 1996

Nicknamed “The Human Joke Machine,” Morey Amsterdam was considered by many to be a…human joke machine. His ability to make a spontaneous joke about anything in rapid-fire succession led to many appearances on early TV variety shows and series. But, his biggest success was playing the role of comedy writer Buddy Sorrell on The Dick Van Dyke Show. The role suited Amsterdam perfectly and allowed him to spitfire his natural flowing comedy within the perfect context of writing for the show’s fictitious The Alan Brady Show. Continue reading →

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Hunter S. Thompson

Posted in Cremated with tags , on October 9, 2013 by Cade

thompson1July 18, 1937 – February 20, 2005

Hunter Stockton Thompson was a writer and journalist, sure. But, let’s not pretend like he was your average, run-of-the-mill cub reporter. Thompson rose to the public eye after spending a year living and traveling with the Hell’s Angels motorcycle gangs. He wrote about the experience and launched what he would refer to from that point on as “Gonzo” journalism. That is, not just reporting the story, but becoming a part of the story. He went on to write his greatest works in this manner. Most notably in his most popular book, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream. 

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Henry David Thoreau

Posted in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery (MA) with tags , , , , on October 9, 2013 by Cade

thoreau1July 12, 1817 – May 6, 1862

“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach,”

Henry David Thoreau is best remembered as a writer of poems, essays and books and for his leadership in the Transcendentalist movement. He famously removed himself from the grid – if such a thing existed in the 1800’s – and wrote about his intentionally simple life in the woods in his most popular work. Walden. But nothing about him was “simple.” Continue reading →

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Ayn Rand

Posted in Kensico Cemetery with tags , on October 9, 2013 by Cade

rand2February 2, 1905 – March 6, 1982

Little Alisa Zinov’yevna Rosenbaum was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, moved to the United States at the age of 20, wrote some plays, some books, became an armchair philosopher and, some 80 years later, died.

Of course, simplifying Ayn Rand’s life isn’t fair. So, I’ll expand a bit. Most of her early writings were met with limited success, but she made a splash in 1943 with The Fountainhead. This sprawling 700-page philosophical novel earned her international acclaim and was made into a feature film. She followed it up with, arguably, her most famous book, Atlas Shrugged, an even MORE sprawling 1100-page dystopian philosophical mystery-romance. Both novels put her on the literary map. She devoted herself from that point forward to a personal philosophy she referred to as Objectivism – a theme and subject she would promote and explore the rest of her life.

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Truman Capote

Posted in Westwood Memorial Park with tags , on October 8, 2013 by Cade

capote1September 30, 1924 – August 25, 1984

Born Truman Streckfus Persons, Truman Capote was an author whose body of work covered a very wide spectrum of style and subject matter. He is perhaps best known for his fictionalized re-telling of a grisly Kansas murder In Cold Blood and his much lighter novella-turned-Hollywood-smash Breakfast At Tiffany’s. Capote himself was a somewhat eccentric and odd fellow whose distinctive high-pitched voice and unique fashion sense helped build up a sort of character all on its own. Capote also dealt with both drug and alcohol addiction throughout his life. Continue reading →

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Nathaniel Hawthorne

Posted in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery (MA) with tags , , on October 8, 2013 by Cade

hawthorne1July 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864

Nathaniel Hathorne was born – without a ‘w’ – on July 4th, 1804 (U.S.A! U.S.A!) in Salem, Massachusetts. As in, “1690’s Witch Trial” Salem. This detail would factor greatly into his life. He was related to one of the judges in the infamous trials (he would later change his name to ‘Hawthorne’ to distance himself from this fact) and spent most of his life in and around New England. Because of this, most of the works that Hawthorne created were set in New England. But it was his novels The Scarlet Letter – set in pre-witch trial, Puritanical Salem – and The House of Seven Gables – also set, implicitly, in Salem – for which he is most widely regarded. Hawthorne explored themes of guilt and sin and deep symbolism in his novels and short stories. He also wrote non-fiction, including a biography of U.S. President and friend, Franklin Pierce.

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Ray Bradbury

Posted in Westwood Memorial Park with tags , on October 7, 2013 by Cade

bradbury1August 22, 1920 – June 5, 2012

Perhaps one of the most important Fantasy and Science Fiction writers of the 20th Century,1 Ray Bradbury thrilled and challenged readers throughout his 70 year career. His seminal dystopian work, Fahrenheit 451, is a staple in American high schools. Bradbury called on a wealth of influences ranging from Aldous Huxley to William Shakespeare to create numerous other works like Something Wicked This Way Comes and The Martian Chronicles. His works have been adapted into films, television shows and even comic books and was a mainstay in the Sci-Fi convention circuit for decades. At the age of 91, Bradbury died in his home in Los Angeles. Continue reading →

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