Carson McCullers

Carson McCullers was a celebrated literary fiction author, best known for her collections of short stories and novels that explore the spiritual isolation of misfits and outcasts of the South. She was born in Columbus, Georgia, in 1917, to Lamar Smith, a jewelry store owner, and his wife, Vera Marguerite Waters. McCullers was a promising pianist and had planned to attend the Juilliard School of Music in New York, but due to financial constraints, she never attended. Instead, she studied writing at Columbia University, which eventually led to the writing of her first novel, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter.

McCullers' husband, Reeves McCullers, was an ex-soldier and aspiring writer. They got married in 1937, and Reeves found some work in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they began their married life. It was in Fayetteville, North Carolina, that McCullers wrote The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter at the age of 23. The novel, written in the southern gothic tradition, became a critically acclaimed bestseller and established McCullers as a major new voice in American literature. The novel's success allowed McCullers to move to New York, where she became a prominent figure in the city's literary scene.

Throughout her life, McCullers struggled with health problems, including severe alcoholism. Despite these challenges, she continued to write and publish, producing works such as Reflections in a Golden Eye, The Member of the Wedding, and Clock Without Hands. Her writing, which often dealt with themes of loneliness and isolation, was widely praised for its emotional depth and insight. McCullers died in Nyack, New York, in 1967, at the age of 50, after suffering a brain hemorrhage. She is buried in Nyack's Oak Hill Cemetery.