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:

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.