Curated playlist
Novelists from Illinois
- Ernest HemingwayErnest Hemingway, only 18, carried Italian soldiers to safety despite being seriously wounded by mortar fire.
- Saul BellowSaul Bellow learned he had entered the U.S. illegally as a child when he tried to enlist. He became a citizen in 1941.
- Edgar Rice BurroughsEdgar Rice Burroughs wrote Tarzan after failing as a mine manager and pencil-sharpener wholesaler.
- Jonathan FranzenA gate-crasher once pulled novelist Jonathan Franzen's glasses off his face. He jokingly demanded $100,000 in 2010.
- John JakesJohn Jakes wrote fiction at night while working as an advertising copywriter. His Kent series sold 55 million copies.
- Gil Scott-HeronGil Scott-Heron preferred the word "bluesologist" even as critics called him a rap progenitor.
- Michael CrichtonMichael Crichton once submitted a George Orwell essay as his own and got a B-minus.
- Gary GygaxGary Gygax grew up hearing Wrigley Field crowds from his bedroom window. He later helped create Dungeons and Dragons.
- Frank MentzerIn 1972, Frank Mentzer sang for Pat Nixon in the White House gardens. He later helped write Dungeons & Dragons rules.
- James KahnEmergency doctor James Kahn played the doctor who pronounces E.T. dead. He had advised on reviving an alien.