1001 People Who Made America - Alan Axelrod [80]
Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth (1807–1882) Born in Portland, Maine (at the time a part of Massachusetts), Longfellow graduated from Bowdoin College, where he read widely and began publishing verses of his own. He became a professor first at Bowdoin then at Harvard University. After the death of his wife in 1835, he began writing poetry in earnest—and in great abundance—colored by a lush romanticism. In addition to such popular lyrics as “The Village Blacksmith” (perhaps the best-known poem in American literature), he wrote American epic narratives, inspired by the long narratives of the ancient poets. The most important of these were Evangeline (1847)—the story of lovers separated when the British expelled the Acadians from Nova Scotia—and The Song of Hiawatha (1855), an evocation of an American Indian hero, inspired by the Finnish epic Kalevala.
Longstreet, James (1821–1904) A South Carolinian, Longstreet fought as a Confederate officer in many of the major battles of the Civil War. He was Robert E. Lee’s second in command at Gettysburg, and his reluctance to organize the celebrated “Pickett’s Charge” has often been cited as the reason for Lee’s defeat in this turning-point battle. (Many others, however, place the blame on Lee himself.) After Gettysburg, Longstreet performed brilliantly at Chickamauga in September 1863 and in the Wilderness Campaign. He was with Lee when the general surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Courthouse in April 1865.
Lopez, Barry Holstun (1945– ) Lopez emerged in the 1970s as one of the nation’s most compelling writers on nature and the environment. Although works such as Of Wolves and Men (1978) and Arctic Dreams: Imagination and Desire in a Northern Landscape (1986) confront the natural world on its own terms, they also develop natural history as an extended metaphor to illuminate human moral issues, including humankind’s role in the system of nature.
Louis, Joe (1914–1981) Louis became world heavyweight champion on June 22, 1937, when he knocked out James J. Braddock, and he held the title until his first retirement on March 1, 1949. He held the title longer than any other heavyweight in history, successfully defending it 25 times (21 times by knockouts). A hero to the African-American community, Louis appealed to fight fans of all races. His 1938 victory over German champion Max Schmelling—who had the personal endorsement of Adolf Hitler—was widely hailed as a victory over Nazi claims of racial superiority.
Lowell, James Russell (1819–1891) In his day, Lowell was one of America’s most popular poets and essayists. His reputation declined in the 20th century, during which critics condemned him as excessively genteel and imitative. Nevertheless, his lasting impact on American literature was profound: as a critic, he educated the literary taste of the American public and created a popular interest in and respect for American literature.
Lowell, Robert, Jr. (1917–1977) Great grand-nephew of James Russell Lowell, Robert Lowell earned an international reputation for his complex and emotionally compelling autobiographical poems. He was honored by an appointment as poetry consultant to the Library of Congress and by two Pulitzer Prizes. In the 1960s, the ferment of the Civil Rights movement and the Vietnam War drew him out of his autobiographical introspection and engendered three masterpiece volumes: For the Union Dead (1964), Near the Ocean (1967), and Notebook 1967–68 (1969).
Lucas, George (1944– ) Lucas combined a passion for science fiction with a passion for film to create some of the most spectacularly popular American movies in history. His first feature was THX 1138 (1971), a robotic science fiction tale, which instantly commanded a cult following. He stepped into the cultural mainstream in 1973 with American Graffiti, a richly nostalgic look at teenage life in the early 1960s. Despite the commercial success of