Ellen Glasgow

popular name: John Steinbeck

date_of_death: December 20, 1968

age: 66

cause_of_death: Heart disease and congestive heart failure

claim_to_fame: Writers and Poets

best_know_for: John Steinbeck was an American author born on February 27, 1902, in Salinas, California. Known for his keen social perception and deep empathy for the working class, Steinbeck wrote with a powerful sense of realism and compassion. His most celebrated works include The Grapes of Wrath, Of Mice and Men, and East of Eden, novels that often explore themes of economic hardship, human dignity, and the American Dream. Many of his stories are set in California and reflect the struggles of farmers, laborers, and outcasts during the Great Depression. Steinbeck's writing style combined lyrical prose with a journalistic eye for detail, making his work both emotionally resonant and socially conscious. He won the Pulitzer Prize for The Grapes of Wrath in 1940 and was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1962. The grave of John Steinbeck can be found at the Garden of Memories Cemetery in Salinas, California.

popular name: Alexandre Dumas

date_of_death: December 5, 1870

age: 68

cause_of_death: Natural causes - possible heart attack

claim_to_fame: Writers and Poets

best_know_for: Alexandre Dumas was a French writer, best know for his works "The Count of Monte Cristo", "The Three Musketeers", "Twenty Years After", and "The Vicomte of Bragelonne: Ten Years Later". His novels have been adapted since the early twentieth century into nearly 200 films. Though married, in the tradition of Frenchmen of higher social class, Dumas had numerous affairs (allegedly as many as 40). He was known to have had at least four illegitimate children, although twentieth-century scholars believe it was seven. He acknowledged and assisted his son, Alexandre Dumas, to become a successful novelist and playwright.

popular name: Jane Austen

date_of_death: July 18, 1817

age: 41

cause_of_death: Hodgkin’s disease

claim_to_fame: Writers and Poets

best_know_for: Jane Austen was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels which include Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814) and Emma (1816). With the first four novels which interpret, critique and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century she achieved success as an author. She wrote two other novels, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, both published posthumously in 1818, and began another, eventually titled Sanditon, but died before its completion. 200 years after her passing Austen continues to inspire many critical essays and literary anthologies. Her novels have inspired many films, from 1940's Pride and Prejudice to more recent productions like Sense and Sensibility (1995), Emma (1996), Mansfield Park (1999), Pride & Prejudice (2005), Love & Friendship (2016), and Emma (2020).