Upton Sinclair
Upton Beall Sinclair Jr. entered the world on the 20th of September 1878, in Baltimore, Maryland. His father worked as a liquor salesman while his mother came from a wealthy family of British ancestry. The contrast between these two sides shaped his early perspective on society. He slept on sofas or across his parents' bed depending on whether his father was home for the night. When his father left for work, he would sleep with his mother instead. This dual existence gave him insight into how both rich and poor people lived during the late nineteenth century.
His family moved frequently because his father struggled to maintain steady employment. Upton developed a love for reading at age five and consumed every book his mother owned. He did not begin formal schooling until he turned ten years old. Math proved difficult for him, so he worked hard to catch up quickly due to embarrassment. In 1888, the family relocated to Queens, New York City where his father sold shoes.
He enrolled at City College of New York five days before his fourteenth birthday on the 15th of September 1892. To pay tuition fees, he wrote jokes, dime novels, and magazine articles for boys' weekly publications. By seventeen years old, this income allowed him to move his parents into an apartment. He graduated from City College in June 1897 but found himself more interested in writing than law school studies. He learned Spanish, German, and French while signing up for various classes only to drop them later. Using stenographers, he produced up to eight thousand words of pulp fiction daily.
In 1904, Sinclair spent seven weeks working undercover inside Chicago's meatpacking plants. He disguised himself as a worker to investigate conditions firsthand. His goal was to expose how the system exploited laborers for profit. The resulting novel became known as The Jungle when published by Doubleday in 1906. It had previously appeared serially in the socialist newspaper Appeal to Reason between February 25 and the 4th of November 1905.
The story followed Jurgis Rudkus, a Lithuanian immigrant who worked in a Chicago meat factory alongside his teenage wife Ona Lukoszaite. Their family suffered mistreatment at the hands of employers and wealthy society members. Descriptions of unsanitary and inhumane conditions shocked readers deeply. Jack London called the book "the Uncle Tom's Cabin of wage slavery." Domestic and foreign purchases of American meat fell by half after publication.
Sinclair wrote in Cosmopolitan magazine during October 1906 that he aimed at the public's heart but accidentally hit it in the stomach instead. The novel triggered public lobbying efforts leading to Congressional legislation. Congress passed both the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act shortly afterward. President Theodore Roosevelt initially characterized Sinclair as a crackpot who told absolute falsehoods about three-quarters of what he claimed. Yet Roosevelt eventually agreed with some conclusions drawn from the work.
In 1919, Sinclair published The Brass Check which critiqued severe limitations placed on the free press within the United States. He examined yellow journalism techniques created by William Randolph Hearst among other topics covered. Sinclair described this work as the most important and dangerous book he had ever written. According to his analysis, American journalism functioned as a class institution serving the rich while spurning the poor.
This bias carried profound implications for American democracy according to Sinclair's argument. He questioned what would happen if nerves providing knowledge about social bodies gave false reports regarding their condition. Four years after publication of The Brass Check, journalists created the first code of ethics designed to address these issues. Time magazine later called him "a man with every gift except humor and silence" based on Mary Craig Sinclair's personal story account.
Sinclair used a famous line during speeches explaining why editors refused to treat serious proposals seriously: "It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it." This quote appeared in books about his gubernatorial campaign and was later quoted by Al Gore in An Inconvenient Truth. His writings exposed how economic interests controlled information flow throughout society.
During 1934, Sinclair ran for governor of California under the Democratic Party banner despite being a socialist at heart. His platform known as End Poverty in California galvanized support from many voters. He gained 879,000 votes making this his most successful political run ever. However incumbent Governor Frank Merriam defeated him by winning 1,138,000 votes instead.
Hollywood studio bosses unanimously opposed Sinclair throughout the election cycle. They pressured employees to assist Merriam's campaign while producing false propaganda films attacking Sinclair directly. These tactics gave him no opportunity to respond effectively against such attacks. Sinclair later stated there existed a campaign of lying ordered by biggest businessmen in California paid with millions of dollars carried out through newspapers, politicians, advertisers, and film industry participants.
Conservatives considered his proposal an attempted communist takeover of their state quickly opposing him using propaganda portraying Sinclair as staunchly communist. The Socialist Party expelled him along with socialists supporting his California campaign since they refused allowing members active in any other party including Democrats. Expulsions destroyed the Socialist Party organization within California entirely. American communists also disassociated themselves considering him capitalist rather than true revolutionary.
Between 1940 and 1953, Sinclair wrote eleven novels featuring central character named Lanny Budd. Budd served as son of an American arms manufacturer holding confidence of world leaders beyond mere witness status often propelling events forward himself. As sophisticated socialite mingling easily across cultures and socioeconomic classes, Budd represented antithesis to stereotyped Ugly American image.
Sinclair placed Budd within important political events occurring in United States and Europe during first half twentieth century. An actual company called Budd Company manufactured arms during World War II founded by Edward G. Budd back in 1912. These novels became bestsellers upon publication appearing translated into twenty-one different countries worldwide.
Third book titled Dragon's Teeth published in 1942 won Pulitzer Prize for Novel awarded in 1943. Out-of-print editions remained nearly forgotten until ebook versions appeared again in 2016. The series included titles such as World's End, Between Two Worlds, Wide Is the Gate, Presidential Agent, Dragon Harvest, A World to Win, Presidential Mission, One Clear Call, O Shepherd Speak!, and The Return of Lanny Budd spanning thirteen years total.
In April 1900, Sinclair traveled to Lake Massawippi in Quebec working on a novel while renting small cabin space initially then moving to farmhouse where he met future first wife Meta Fuller. She descended from First Families of Virginia being three years younger than him aspiring beyond housewife role so he instructed her reading choices. They married the 18th of October 1900 despite warnings against doing so beforehand. Using abstinence primarily as contraception method resulted in pregnancy occurring following year with child David born the 1st of December 1901.
Sinclair opposed sex outside marriage viewing it necessary only for reproduction purposes telling Meta birth gave marriage dignity meaning alone. Despite beliefs maintaining love affair with Anna Noyes during marriage producing unpublished sequel called Love's Progress. His wife later had relationship with theology student John Armistead Collier having son Ben together subsequently.
In 1911, Sinclair invited Harry Kemp camping couple land in Arden Delaware before Meta left for poet August late that same year. An Amsterdam court declared marriage annulled the 24th of May 1912 based adultery grounds declaring both living Hilversum Netherlands temporarily New York respectively. He married Mary Craig Kimbrough next year meeting when attending lecture about The Jungle. They remained married until death in 1961 before marrying third wife Mary Elizabeth Willis shortly thereafter.
Sinclair experimented extensively with various diets believing periodic fasting crucial for health improvement. His book The Fasting Cure published 1911 became another bestseller selling widely across America. He stated taking several fasts lasting ten or twelve days duration resulting complete making over of his personal health status reported positively throughout text.
He favored raw food diet predominantly vegetables nuts long periods complete vegetarianism experimenting eating meat occasionally too. Attitude explained fully chapter Use Of Meat within aforementioned book detailing nutritional philosophy adopted lifelong. Last years life strictly ate three meals daily consisting brown rice fresh fruit celery topped powdered milk salt pineapple juice drinkable beverage consumed regularly throughout day.
His interest extended beyond politics into occult phenomena exploring telepathy possibilities documented Mental Radio published 1930 including accounts wife Mary's telepathic experiences abilities. William McDougall read book writing introduction leading establishment parapsychology department Duke University subsequently following publication impact.
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Common questions
When and where was Upton Sinclair born?
Upton Beall Sinclair Jr. entered the world on the 20th of September 1878, in Baltimore, Maryland.
What happened after Upton Sinclair published The Jungle in 1906?
The novel triggered public lobbying efforts leading to Congressional legislation that passed both the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act shortly afterward.
How did Upton Sinclair perform in his 1934 gubernatorial campaign for California?
Sinclair gained 879,000 votes making this his most successful political run ever but incumbent Governor Frank Merriam defeated him by winning 1,138,000 votes instead.
Which book won Upton Sinclair a Pulitzer Prize for Novel in 1943?
Third book titled Dragon's Teeth published in 1942 won Pulitzer Prize for Novel awarded in 1943.
Who were the wives of Upton Sinclair and when did he marry them?
He married Meta Fuller the 18th of October 1900 and later married Mary Craig Kimbrough next year meeting when attending lecture about The Jungle before marrying third wife Mary Elizabeth Willis shortly thereafter.