Thomas Wolfe

Birth Name:
Thomas Clayton Wolfe
Birth Date:
October 3, 1900
Birth Place:
Asheville, North Carolina
Death Date:
September 15, 1938
Place of Death:
Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland
Age:
37
Cause of Death:
Miliary tuberculosis
Cemetery Name:
Riverside Cemetery
Claim to Fame:
Writers and Poets
Thomas Wolfe is considered one of the most autobiographical novelists in American literature and is probably the greatest writer to come out of North Carolina. During his short life he wrote four novels; Look Homeward, Angel, Of Time and the River, The Web and the Rock, and You Can’t Go Home Again, as well as numerous short stories, novellas, and plays. He is known for mixing highly original, poetic, rhapsodic, and impressionistic prose with autobiographical writing. His books, written and published from the 1920s to the 1940s, vividly reflect on American culture and the mores of that period, filtered through Wolfe's sensitive, sophisticated, and hyper-analytical perspective. After Wolfe's death, contemporary author William Faulkner said that Wolfe might have been the greatest talent of their generation for aiming higher than any other writer. Wolfe's influence extends to the writings of Beat Generation writer Jack Kerouac, and of authors Ray Bradbury and Philip Roth, among others.

Fun Facts

In 1998, the historic Old Kentucky Home in Ashville, North Carolina suffered damage in a fire that was later determined to have been the result of arson. Approximately 20% of the original structure and 15% of the artifact collection were destroyed. After intensive restoration to both the historic house and surviving artifact collection, the Old Kentucky Home once again opened its doors to visitors in May of 2004.

A signed, first edition of the Thomas Wolfe novel “Look Homeward, Angel” will set you back $2,800 to $16,000 depending on the condition of the book.

Cemetery Information:

Final Resting Place:

Riverside Cemetery

53 Birch Street

Ashville, North Carolina, 28801

USA

North America

Map:

Cemetery map of Riverside Cemetery in Ashville, North Carolina

Grave Location:

Section Q, Lot 1, Grave 6

Grave Location Description

As you enter the cemetery Section Q is the first section you will encounter on your left. Continue to circle the perimeter until you are on the downhill side of the section looking at a 2-step concrete steps to his monument. Oh, and there are signs that will point his headstone out to you.

Grave Location GPS

35.6016160, -82.5698590

Photos:

[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]

Read More About Thomas Wolfe:

Videos Featuring Thomas Wolfe:
Thomas Wolfe, Great American Author
Thomas Wolfe documentary
A Story of the Buried Life - The Thomas Wolfe Memorial
William Faulkner on Wolfe
Julia Wolfe, 85, talks about her son, American author Thomas Wolfe (1945)
Thomas Wolfe Grave & Related Sites

See More:

William Shakespeare

popular name: William Shakespeare

date_of_death: April 23, 1616

age: 52

cause_of_death: Exact cause unknown - possibly died after a brief illness

claim_to_fame: Writers and Poets

best_know_for: William Shakespeare was an English playwright, poet, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's greatest dramatist. His early plays were primarily comedies and histories and are regarded as some of the best work produced in these genres. He then wrote mainly tragedies until 1608, among them Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth, all considered to be among the finest works in the English language.

Alexandre Dumas

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.

Victor Noir

popular name: Victor Noir

date_of_death: January 11, 1870

age: 21

cause_of_death: Homicide - gunshot wounds

claim_to_fame: Writers and Poets

best_know_for: Victor Noir was the nom de plume of a budding journalist killed at 21 years old by Prince Pierre Bonaparte. The prince was a relative of the reigning monarch, Emperor Napoleon III, the same Napoleon who censured the press and forced writers like Victor Hugo into exile. The little noble shot Victor six times when Noir and another witness went to pick up the prince and drive him to a duel. The prince was quickly tried and acquitted, paying only a pittance in damages for taking another man's life. More than a hundred thousand outraged people crowded for the funeral on a cold January day in 1870. It was a catalyst for anti-royal fervor. Later that same year, after a crushing defeat at a battle in the Franco-Prussian war they imprisoned the last Napoleon.

Back to Top