Sherwood Anderson (13 September, 1876 – 8 March, 1941) was a novelist and short story writer from Ohio.
Fun Facts about Sherwood Anderson:
- Sherwood Berton Anderson was born in Camden, OH. He was the third child of seven to a well to do family.
- The Anderson family left Ohio, for reasons unknown, before the future writer was one year old, and settled in Caledonia, OH. The family stayed there only a few years, but those few years formed a lasting impression on the future author.
- The family’s fortunes did not improve, and they finally settled in Clyde, OH where the parents were barely able to support the Anderson family. Young Sherwood took on odd jobs to help put food on the table and hence got the nickname “Jobby”.
- Taking care of the family took priority over his schooling, Sherwood Anderson left school at age 14 to work in numerous jobs, from newsboy, to cow driver. It quickly became evident, however, that he was a natural salesman. Nevertheless, the young man loved reading and kept borrowing books from the school’s library, as well as from people around town.
- After the death of his mother, with his father absent, Mr. Anderson finally settled in Chicago by the late 1890s.
- In Chicago, Sherwood Anderson decided to further his education and enrolled in night school. This is where he was introduced to Robert Browning, and maybe even Walt Whitman.
- During the Spanish-American War, as part of the National Guard in Clyde, Mr. Anderson served in Cuba but never saw combat. He did, however, was very popular among the troops.
- After the war, at age 23 Sherwood Anderson finished his senior year of high school, he graduated in 1900. In 1903, while his business career was taking off, he met Cornelia Pratt Lane, daughter of a well to do businessman, and married her a year later. The couple would have three children but ended up divorced. He married three more times.
- In 1916, Sherwood Anderson published his first novel, Windy McPherson’s Son, but it took him until 1919, with Winesburg, Ohio, to find fame.
- When his business and personal life collided, Sherwood Anderson suffered a nervous breakdown which became a huge part of the history of his life. The retelling and reinterpreting of the breakdown became an inseparable part of his legacy.
Zohar — Man of la Book *Amazon links point to an affiliate account, the money is usually spent on books Sources: Sherwood Anderson | Wikipedia Sherwood Anderson: 1876—1941 | The Poetry Foundation On My Obsession with Sherwood Anderson Revisiting Winesburg, Ohio again and again | National Endowment for the Humanities Sherwood Anderson: American author | Britannica
