Hart Crane (1899 - 1970)

Poet. He understood that he was a homosexual after an affair in 1919 in Akron, Ohio, where he was employed as a clerk in one of his father’s candy stores. In the spring of 1924, he met Emil Opffer, a ship’s purser. With him, an emotional relationship developed in which Crane was intensely engaged. (The […]

Christopher Pearse Cranch (1813 - 1892)

Writer, Artist. Born outside of Washington, D.C., Cranch relocated to Cambridge, MA to attend Harvard Divinity School. He served as a minister only briefly before becoming an early member of the Transcendental Club, a group which challenged his traditional religious beliefs. He is today recognized as the member with the greatest sense of humor. His […]

Dinah Maria Craik (1826 - 1887)

Author. Her father was a nonconformist clergyman; her mother taught in a small school. In 1864, she married a partner in the publishing house of Macmillan and Company, and was, afterwards, known as Mrs. Craik. She is best remembered for the novel “John Halifax, Gentleman” (1859). Her other works include, “The Ogilvies” (1849), dedicated to […]

George Crabbe (1754 - 1832)

Poet.  Born in the tiny fishing village of Aldeburgh, Suffolk, he first studied medicine,  graduating in 1775. Four years later he left Suffolk and travelled to London to take up writing seriously. His major works include: “The Village” (1783), “The Borough” (1810), “Tales in Verse” (1812), and “Tales of the Hall” (1819). Crabbe was renowned […]

Elinor Martineau Coyle (1909 - 1997)

Author, photographer, and historian of St. Louis, Missouri. Elinor Martineau Coyle was a pioneer in the St. Louis Renaissance Movement of the 1950s to the 1970s. She wrote and took photographs for a number of books about St. Louis history, including “Old St. Louis Homes 1764-1865: The Stories They Tell,”  “St. Louis: Portrait of a […]

William Robert Cox (1901 - 1988)

Author. He was prolific writer of short stories and Western and Mystery novels mainly for the pulp and paperback markets. He wrote under his own name as well as the pseudonyms “John Parkhill”, “Joel Reeve” and “Wayne Robbins”.

Abraham Cowley (1970 - 1667)

A poet, whose great contemporary reputation soon waned. He worked in Paris for a while as confidential secretary to Queen Henrietta Maria. He returned to England after the Restoration, expecting recognition of his service, dying in retirement a few years later. The names of other poets and authors who do not have actual grave markers […]

Sir Noel Coward (1899 - 1973)

Legendary playwright (‘Blithe Spirit,’ ‘Private Lives’), actor, singer and songwriter (‘The Stately Homes of England,’ ‘Don’t Put Your Daughter on the Stage, Mrs. Worthington,’ ‘Mad Dogs and Englishmen’). When asked what he would be remembered for after death, he replied “Charm.” Buried at Firefly Hill, Jamaica. (bio by: David Conway)  Family links:  Parents:  Arthur Sabin […]

Stephen Covey (1932 - 2012)

Author, Professor. Covey, who earned a B.S. in business administration from the University of Utah, an MBA from Harvard University and a Doctor of Religious Education from Brigham Young University, was the best-selling author of ‘The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People’, ‘First Things First’, ‘The Speed of Trust: The One Thing That Changes Everything’, […]

Joseph Coveney (1805 - 1897)

‘Freethinker.’ Born in County Cork, Ireland. He is buried near his Monument to Freethought, which was erected in 1874. The monument has many inscriptions, including: FREE THOUGHT, FREE RELIGION, FREE SPEECH, AND FREE PRESS.  Family links:  Spouse:  Louisa Roe Coveney (1819 – 1894)*  Children:  Melissa Jane Coveney Tennant (1838 – 1903)*  Catherine Coveney McCracken (1840 […]

Norman Cousins (1915 - 1990)

American Author and Editor. He was a newspaper editorial writer and historical magazine editor before beginning his long association with the Saturday Review magazine. Under his direction, it expanded from a literary magazine to a review of all aspects of contemporary life. Cousins was an advocate of various liberal causes, particularly of nuclear disarmament, which […]

Victor Cousin (1792 - 1867)

French Philosopher and Politician. Known for being the founder of Spiritualism, he was Professor at the Ecole Normal and at the Sorbonne in Paris. His ideas were substantially influenced by the thought of Immanuel Kant and German idealism. He argued that the basis of metaphysics are the observation and analysis of the facts of conscious […]

Bryce Courtenay (1933 - 2012)

Author. He was one of Australia’s most commercially successful authors, having published 21 novels between 1989 and 2012, most of which are set in historical fiction Australia, his adopted country or South Africa, his country of birth.  He began working at the age of 17 in an African mine, earning money to attend the London […]

Georges Courteline (1858 - 1929)

Writer. Born Georges Victor Marcel Moinaux in Tours, Franch, he was a novelist notable for his and cynical humor. While serving in the French military, he became interested in poetry. After his military time, he began writing poetry reviews for a small newspaper and by the 1890s, he was writing plays for the theaters of […]

Louis Couperus (1863 - 1923)

Writer. Born and raised in The Hague.  Considered a formeost figure in Dutch Literature,  he was a virtuoso at observing and uncovering the lives of his country’s fin de siecle bourgeoisie.   His literary efforts, in all some fifty books, range from novels and travel stories to poetry. His best known novels include “Eline Vere” […]

John Cotton (1585 - 1652)

Religious Figure. He was a Puritan minister at St. Botolph’s Church in Lincolnshire, England, before leaving for America in 1633. His daughter Maria later wedded to Increase Mather and borne son, Cotton Mather. John Cotton became a minister at the First Church of Boston in Massachusetts, forming the basis for Congregationalism. He figured prominently in […]

Charles Cotton (1630 - 1687)

Author and angler.

James Costigan (1926 - 2007)

Television Writer. A bit player in movies and TV as a youth, he became a television screenwriter in the 1950s for shows including “Studio One” and “Kraft Television Theatre.” In 1958, he wrote a widely-praised adaptation of “Wuthering Heights” starring Richard Burton for “The DuPont Show of the Month.” The first of the three Emmy […]

Thomas B. Costain (1885 - 1965)

Author. Born Thomas Bertram Costain, the son of John Herbert and Mary Schultz Costain in Brantford, Ontario. He left school at the age of seventeen, taking a position with the ‘Brantford Courier.’ Between 1908 and 1910 he served as the editor of the ‘Guelph Daily Mercury,’ followed by a stint as the editor of ‘Maclean’s […]

Kate Coscarelli (1927 - 1999)

Novelist and motion picture production designer. (bio by: A.J. Marik)

Julie Nathanson Coryell (1947 - 2009)

Jazz Historian. Though she made contributions to several of her then-husband’s albums, she will be remembered for her 1978 book “Jazz-Rock Fusion: The People, The Music”. Raised in New York City, she met singer-guitarist Larry Coryell early in his career. The couple married in 1968; Julie appeared on the covers of “Coryell” and “Lady Coryell”, […]

Edward Samuel Corwin (1878 - 1963)

Prolific authority on American constitutional law. Author of numerous books and law review articles on constitutional issues, including “The President, Office and Powers” (1940, 1958), “The Constitution and What It Means Today” (1920, and several updates), “Total War and the Constitution” (1946), and, for the Congressional Research Service: “The Constitution of the United States of […]

Julio Cortázar (1914 - 1984)

Author. Argentine writer, born in Belgium. From 1951 on, he lived in Paris. Much of his writing is a surrealist depiction of the outside world as a phantasmic maze from which one must escape. One of his earliest works, “Los Reyes” (The Kings, 1949), is a prose poem dealing directly with the legend of the […]

William Raymond Corson (1925 - 2000)

Author. United States Marine Corps veteran of 24 Years and three wars and intelligence specialist. He authored the books “The Betrayal,” “Consequences of Failure,””Promise or Peril” and “The Armies of Ignorance.” But, it was the book “The Betrayal” written in 1968 at the height of the war in Vietnam that brought him the most fame. […]

Juliet Corson (1842 - 1897)

Author, Journalist. Born in Roxbury, Massachusetts, she was a cookbook and cooking school pioneer.  A champion of nutritious meals for the poor, she began working as a librarian at the Working Women’s Library, where the plight of the poor affected her greatly. Well educated, she supplemented her income by writing for newspapers – eventually she […]

Gregory Nunzio Corso (1930 - 2001)

Poet, playwright and author Gregory Corso was a leading writer of the “Beat” movement of the 1950s and early 60s. Corso was the last survivor of the tribunal spearhead of the movement consisting of himself, Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg. His life begain in New York City to Italian immigrant parents. He was abandoned by […]

John William Corrington (1932 - 1988)

Novelist, and screenwriter. Graduate of Jesuit High School and Centenary College of Louisiana, both in Shreveport, Louisiana, and of the graduate school of the University of Sussex in Great Britain. He also held a law degree from Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana. Among his novels are “Decoration Day,” “Omega Man,” “Shad Sentell,” “The Risi’s […]

Martín Coronado (1850 - 1919)

Famed writer and journalist. Among his best works are “La Piedra del Escándalo,” “La Chacra de Don Lorenzo” and “Parientes Pobres.” (bio by: 380W)

Frances Crofts Darwin Cornford (1886 - 1960)

English Poet. Because of the similarity of her Christian name and her husband’s, she was known to her family before her marriage as “FCD” and after her marriage as “FCC” and her husband Francis Cornford was known as “FMC”. Her father Sir Francis Darwin, a son of Charles Darwin, yet another ‘Francis’, was known to […]

Pierre Corneille (1606 - 1684)

Playwright, author of the theatrical classic ‘Le Cid’. (bio by: David Conway)