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Norman Mailer

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Norman Mailer was often called a literary lion, even long before his death in November 2007. Well known not only for his anti-war novel The Naked and the Dead (1948), he also found time to squeeze in work as a journalist, provocateur, womanizer, political candidate, film director, and actor. He wrote over 30 books and won the Pulitzer twice for The Armies of the Night (1968) and The Executioner's Song (1979). The World War II veteran stood his ground and was fearless when it came to his views on U.S. politics, especially during the tumultuous years of the Vietnam and Gulf Wars. As a founding father of New Journalism, Mailer was critical in a movement that started in the 1960s, one that eventually gave birth to the weekly alternative newspaper The Village Voice. The author and former soldier also contributed much to the film industry, adapting his work such as "The Executioner's Song" into movies, and directing Ryan O'Neal and Isabella Rossellini in "Tough Guys Don't Dance" (1987). Mailer packed a lot into his 84 years, making both his life and work an integral part of the American cultural fabric.