Booth Tarkington

Booth Tarkington was a prominent American author, best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning novels, The Magnificent Ambersons and Alice Adams. Born on July 2, 1869, in Indianapolis, Indiana, Tarkington was named after his maternal uncle, Newton, who was the governor of California at that time. His family had once been wealthy but lost their fortune during the Panic of 1873, and Tarkington's mother later regained some of their wealth, enabling him to attend Princeton University.

Tarkington was a prolific writer, known not only for his novels but also for his plays and literary fiction. Over the course of his career, he wrote several single novels, as well as two trilogies, The Growth Trilogy and the Penrod trilogy. His works often explored the lives and experiences of the American middle class, and his writing was highly regarded during the 1910s and 1920s, a time when he was considered to be the greatest living American author. In fact, Tarkington is one of only three authors to have won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction more than once, along with William Faulkner and John Updike.

Tarkington's education and early career were marked by a deep involvement in drama and theater. He attended Shortridge School and Phillips Academy before studying at Purdue University for two years. While at Purdue, he became a member of the Morley Eating Club and the Sigma Chi Fraternity, and after leaving the university, he donated money for the construction of a men's residence hall, which was named after his family. Tarkington later transferred to Princeton University, where he became highly active in the drama club and was elected its president. He participated in various plays at the university level, including Katherine, The Honorable Julius Caesar, and others. After graduating, Tarkington continued to be involved in theater, writing plays and working with various theater companies.