Ray Bremser
(1934-1998) Poet. Ray Bremser moved to Rosendale, New York in 1974. He was a member of the Beat Generatiion.
Letter: B
Walter Brooks
Writer. “Freddy the Pig” Writer of children’s stories. “Ed Signs the Pledge” became the famous Mr. Ed TV series. Brooks attended college at the University of Rochester. Studied homeopathic medicine in New York City. Was employed by an advertising agency in Utica in 1909.
William Cullen Bryant
(1794-1878) Writer, poet, editor. William Cullen Bryant was born in Massachusetts. Mr. Bryant lived at 428-343 Lafayette Street and 24 West 16th Street in Manhattan, New York. Bryant became a recognized poet early in life, then was admitted to the bar in 1815. He practiced law in Massachusetts for ten years, then moved to New … Continued
Frances Eliza Hodgson Burnett
(1849-1924) Writer. Born in England, Ms. Burnett came to New York, wrote “The Secret Garden,” “Little Lord Fauntleroy” (1886), and others. The dramatization of novels without compensation to their original author had been a problem for English writers. With Little Lord Fauntleroy, Frances was the first author to win such control, which created the legal … Continued
L(yman) Frank Baum
(1856-1919) Journalist, playwright, writer of children’s books. (He also used the names: Edith Van Dyne, Laura Bancroft, Floyd Akers, Suzanne Metcalf, Schuyler Staunton.) L. Frank Baum was born in, and also lived in, Chittenango, New York. His birth home is uncertain; some reports say it burned down; others say it is still standing. A marker … Continued
Philip Barry
Playwright. Born in Rochester. After graduating from Yale in 1919, Barry worked with George Pierce Baker at the famous 47 Dramatic Workshop at Harvard until 1922. In the next 20 years, Barrys plays were produced on the New York stage. Among the more successful plays are “Holiday” (1929), “Hotel Universe” (1930), “Tomorrow and Tomorrow” (1931), … Continued
Erastus F Beadle
Publisher. “The Youth’s Casket: An Illustrated Magazine for Children.” Known as the inventor of the dime novel: paperback books, published in large numbers. His publishing house employed over 25 writers. It expanded to become the publishing house of “The Boy’s Library,” “The Pocket Library,” and “The Half-Dime Library.”
William Wells Brown
Writer of slave narratives and novels. Including “Clotel;” or, “The Presidents Daughter: A Narrative of Slave Life in The United States” (1853), the first novel by a black American. In 18??, Brown escaped slavery, and in 1836 moved to Buffalo, working on a steam boat in Lake Erie, as well as opening his home as … Continued
John Burroughs
(1837-1921) Naturalist, essayist, and writer. Born in Roxbury, NY. Wrote: “Walt Whitman: Poet and Person” (1867), the first work to give adequate recognition to Whiteman’s genius. Also wrote “Wake Robin” (1871). Burroughs lived and worked for the last 25 years of his life in the Slabsides cabin near West Park in Ulster County, and the … Continued
Elizabeth Bishop
(1911-1979) Poet. Elizabeth Bishop attended Vassar College from 1930-34 with Mary McCarthy, Eleanor Clark, Muriel Rukeyser, and others. It was at Vassar that Bishop met the poet/librarian Marianne Moore. She taught at New York University, and was Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 1949 to 1950.