Sinclair Lewis

Sinclair Lewis (February 7, 1885-January 10, 1951) kept a journal and read books as a boy instead of doing sports like others his age. He did not have many friends and tried to run away at age 13 to become a drummer boy in the Spanish-American War. His effort was not successful. In 1903, he left his home of Sauk Centre to attend Yale University in 1903. After graduating, he worked as a reporter for a number of publishing companies and began publishing his own stories regularly in 1915.

Lewis first drew attention with his controversial novel Main Street, which satirized the American small town. Arrowsmith won the Pulitzer Prize in 1925, but he turned it down. He became the first American to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in recognition of his book Babbitt. He lived in Minneapolis and Duluth periodically and authored twenty-two novels, including Ann Vickers, Elmer Gantry, and The Innocents.

More information on Sinclair Lewis from the Minnesota Historical Society.