Gore Vidal

Gore Vidal (Oct. 3, 1925-July 3, 2012) was an American writer and political commentator. He was born in a military hospital at West Point, New York to a political family: his grandfather was a U.S. Senator and his father was an aviation pioneer who served as the director of the Bureau of Air Commerce during Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration. Vidal wrote his first novel, Williwaw, at age 19. The success of his novels led him to write plays, starting with Visit to a Small Planet in 1957 and The Best Man in 1960. He later adapted both into screenplays.

Vidal became heavily involved in politics in the 1960s. He ran for Congress twice and then became a political commentator, advocating for liberal causes with a trademark acerbic wit. Though his views on societal norms and frank depictions of sexuality were often controversial, critics praised him for his literary versatility and the elegance of his writing. Vidal died of pneumonia in 2012, leaving his entire $37 million-dollar estate to Harvard University.