Pulitzer Prize

Toni Morrison grew up in a house of African-American storytellers and developed a love for books. After earning a masters degree in English and teaching for many years, she felt there was a book she wanted to read but had yet to find—so she wrote it herself. A prolific career ensued, with Morrison winning both the Pulitzer and Nobel Prizes for her fiction.

Charles Lindbergh became the first person to fly a plane non-stop across the Atlantic at age 25. Though he experienced fame and acclamation for his heroism, he also suffered major setbacks, including the kidnapping of his son and accusations of being a Nazi sympathizer.

Equally accomplished at jazz and classical music, bandleader and trumpeter Wynton Marsalis was the first jazz musician to win the Pulitzer Prize.

Characterized by his slow, honeyed voice, Alex Haley was one of America’s most popular oral and written storytellers. His timeless novel “Roots” illuminates and humanizes America’s era of slavery and ultimately reflects the personal mantra visible in all his work: “Find the good and praise it.”

“My day job is playwright. My citizen job is activist ... I succeed and fail at both my jobs, but I try to do them both.” Tony Kushner has won Oscar, Tony and Emmy awards for his writing, as well as the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play, “Angels in America.” He brings strong political views and a singular philosophy to all his work.

Revered by children for books such as “Charlotte’s Web” and “Stuart Little,” renowned among writers for the invaluable Strunk & White’s “The Elements of Style” and considered a paragon among New Yorkers for his love of the city, E.B. White’s erudition and observation continue to inspire, inform and entertain new generations.

Crowned by Time magazine “the patron saint of laughter,” the creator of Felix Unger and Oscar Madison, along with a host of other memorable characters, has amassed almost every important award and accolade possible during his 60-year career.

Gwendolyn Brooks, renowned poet, was the author of many memorable works centered on the black experience in America and the issues of the Civil Rights Movement. In 1950, she became the first African-American writer to win the Pulitzer Prize.

Songwriter, musician, author, performer, poet, political force, Pulitzer Prize winner, voice of an era, icon, legend—if Bob Dylan were a cat, he should start counting his lives. The nature of his talent isn’t that he reinvents himself for each decade; rather, each new generation discovers and reinterprets his gifts.

Harper Lee’s only novel, “To Kill a Mockingbird,” is a Pulitzer Prize-winning classic, a staple of high school and college reading lists, and the favorite of millions of readers. Lee, however, chose privacy over fame, and has spent most of her life out of the public eye.

John Updike is one of America’s most beloved authors, known for “The Witches of Eastwick,” the “Rabbit” novel series and his final work, “The Widows of Eastwick,” published just months before his death on Jan. 27, 2009.

At 46, the world watched Katharine Graham transition from a nervous widow to chairman and chief executive officer of The Post Co. She saw this evolution much differently, however: “What I essentially did was to put one foot in front of the other, shut my eyes and step off the ledge.”