Ross Lockridge, Jr.
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Ross F. Lockridge, Jr. | |
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Lockridge in 1947 |
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Born | April 25, 1914 Bloomington, Indiana |
Died | March 6, 1948 (aged 33) Bloomington, Indiana |
Occupation | novelist |
Nationality | American |
Writing period | 1948 |
Genres | historical fiction |
Notable work(s) | Raintree County |
Ross F. Lockridge, Jr., (April 25, 1914 – March 6, 1948) was an American novelist of the middle of the twentieth century. He is most noted for his expansive novel, Raintree County, often considered to be one of the "Great American Novels."
Lockridge was born in Bloomington, Indiana, United States and grew up there. Lockridge attended Indiana University in 1931, graduating in 1935 with the highest average in the history of the university. Lockridge married and had four children. His novel Raintree County was published in early 1948, to great critical acclaim. It illustrates the 19th century history of a typical midwestern county through the reminiscences of its main character, John Wickliff Shawnessy.
Suffering from severe depression, Lockridge committed suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning shortly after the novel's publication. His grave is in Rose Hill Cemetery in Bloomington.
[edit] References
- Lockridge, Larry. Shade of the Raintree: The Life and Death of Ross Lockridge, Jr. New York: Viking Penguin (1994). ISBN 0670854409