Upton Sinclair (20 September, 1878 – 25 November, 1968) was an American writer, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, who published books in several genres.
- Mr. Sinclair was born in Baltimore, MD as Upton Beall Sinclair Jr. His father, a liquor salesman, was an alcoholic, while his mother, Priscilla Harden Sinclair, was very strict and hated alcohol, tea, and coffee.
- The family moved around a lot and the author only started school at age 10. He worked very hard to catch up to his classmates because he was embarrassed.
- Before publishing his award winning book, The Jungle (1906), Mr. Sinclair worked seven weeks in one of Chicago’s meatpacking plants and spent six months investigating the industry as research.
- After the book was published, Congress was pushed by public lobbying to regulate the meat industry including passing of the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act.
- Mr. Sinclair found the California chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and ran twice for the US Congress as a Socialist. He lost both times.
- His wife, Meta Fuller, was a childhood friend. Ms. Fuller was Virginia royalty (or as close as one could get to it) and her family was one of the first ones to settle in the state.
- Mr. Sinclair wrote both fiction and non-fiction books criticizing the socio-economic conditions of the early 20thcentury.
- The 11 novels of the Lanny Budd series, about an American arms dealer who befriends world leaders while witnessing, and influencing world events, were bestsellers and translated to 21 languages.
- The third novel in the Lanny Budd series, Dragon’s Teeth (1942), won the 1943 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
- The 2007 Academy Award winning motion picture There Will Be Blood was adapted from his novel Oil!
Zohar — Man of la Book
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Fun Facts Friday: Upton Sinclair
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Upton Sinclair (20 September, 1878 – 25 November, 1968) was an American writer, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, who published books in several genres.
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Man of la Book
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