John F. Kennedy - Mini Bio (6:32)
Julia Child - Mini Bio (4:11)
Julia Child's groundbreaking cookbook, "Mastering the Art of French Cooking," and her television show, "The French Chef," changed the face of cooking in America.
Elmore speaks on love, life, death and the challenges of each.
Elmore Leonard answers questions about his writings, his films and the stars that made them a success.
Elmore Leonard - Mini Bio (2:04)
As a child, Elmore Leonard read about notorious criminals of the Great Depression in newspapers. He set out on a career as a writer of crime fiction, which includes "Get Shorty," "Out of Sight," and "Jackie Brown."
Maya Angelou - Mini Bio (4:06)
Edgar Allan Poe - Full Episode (43:34)
Hunter S Thompson is considered one of the Great American Writers, and the originator of “Gonzo Journalism.”
Ernest Hemingway - Suicide (2:08)
The last years of Hemingway's life and what drove him to his last act of public note.
A brief glimpse into the life of Ernest Hemingway and some of his more notable lifetime achievements.
Sylvia Plath sealed her fate when she bit fellow poet Ted Hughes on the cheek.
Sylvia Plath - Death (2:01)
Sylvia Plath takes her own life at age 30 on February 11, 1963.
At 20 years old, Sylvia Plath first attempted suicide.
Sylvia Plath found out her husband, Ted Hughes, was having an affair.
While vacationing in snowbound Colorado, King and his wife stayed at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, and found inspiration for the fictional Overlook Hotel and the trapped family in "The Shining."
Stephen King - Pet Cemetery (0:58)
At his new home in Maine, Stephen King discovered that living close to the road can be dangerous for family pets. The discovery was the basis for the novel "Pet Semetery."
While attending college in Maine, Stephen King protested the war in Vietnam and had his first work published in a mystery magazine.
Today, Stephen King is the world's undisputed master of horror. But as a child, his friends played a prank that exploited one of his many phobias and fears.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle didn't create the legendary detective out of thin air: he used a French criminal expert and famous police investigator as the model for Holmes.
Legal at the time, herion and cocaine allow Holmes to relax and fuels him to complete his legendary caseload.
Experts comment on the world's greatest detective's legendary IQ and early education.
Holmes proves that crime can be commited by anyone. He is one of the first to expain that criminal behavior is not just for the poor and lower classes, but that the privileged are just as capable of evil.
While Sherlock Holmes is one of the most popular fictional characters in the world, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, grew tired of writing about him.
Sherlock Holmes - CSI (1:22)
Using early scientifc experiments and deductive reasoning, Holmes becomes the world's first forsenic scientist.
Oscar Wilde's father was Ireland's leading eye surgeon and was knighted in 1864.
Oscar Wilde died at age 46 on November 30, 1900 from meningitis.
Oscar Wilde sued the Marquis de Queensburg for libel, lost, and wound up in jail for gross indecency because of his homosexuality.
Although he was married to Constance Lloyd, Wilde spent nights in a hotel with Lord Alfred Douglas. It was his most prolific writing period.
Jane Austen led a life filled with both love and heartbreak.
Jane Austen - Love, Finally (1:37)
Only after her death was Jane's identity revealed to the public by her brother.
Jane Austen - By a Lady (1:56)
Jane Austen's first work was a great success, but it was published anonymously.
A brief glimpse into the life of Ernest Hemingway and insight as to how he was perceived by those who knew him.
Edgar Allan Poe, writer and editor, was haunted by his past as an orphan and a life alone which led him to alcohol abuse, madness, and self-destruction.
Edgar Allan Poe - Nevermore (1:05)
Writer Edgar Allan Poe's biography about The Raven, his first work published, like his life's work received little or no money.
Poe writes about death and the possibility of life beyond the grave in the hope that there would be an afterlife, a feeling that gave the often-melancholy Poe faith.
The Murders in the Rue Morgue, is credited with being the world's first murder mystery.
Novelist Charles Dickens set out on public speaking tours of his most beloved work to both the United States and Great Britain in need of money but cost him his health.
Learn about Charles Dickens' youth and this great novelist of the Victorian Era's family struggles with debt prison.
Charles Dickens wrote stories for the masses but few could afford leather bound novels, so people read his serialized writings in monthly segments.
Agatha Christie died on January 12, 1976 at age 85, taking her secrets about her mysterious disappearance to the grave.
Agatha Christie - Early Life (1:47)
The early life of Agatha Christie, her father Fredrick Miller, her first husband Archibald Christie and her first book.
J.K. Rowling - Mini Bio (4:18)
Rudyard Kipling - Full Episode (46:08)
A full biography of acclaimed writer of Rudyard Kipling.
Mark Twain - Full Episode (43:40)
Marquis de Sade - Full Episode (43:11)
Jules Verne - Full Episode (45:45)
James Joyce - Full Episode (44:11)
H. G. Wells - Full Episode (45:00)
Ernest Hemingway - Full Episode (92:41)
Elmore Leonard - Full Episode (45:15)