Algren, Nelson (Nelson Ahlgren Abraham)

1909 - Nelson Algren was born in Detroit, Michigan on March 28, 1909.

1912 - He moved with his parents to Chicago, Illinois to live in a working-class.

1931 - Graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a Bachelor of Science in journalism.

1933 - He wrote his first story entitled "So Help Me".

1935 - He published his first novel entitled Somebody in Boots.

1942 - He published "Never Come Morning" which portrayed the dead-end life of a doomed young criminal.

1949 - He had a torrid affair with Simone de Beauvoir and they travelled to Latin America. He won the first National Book Award with his gritty novel, The Man with the Golden Arm.

1956 - Wrote the novel entitled A Walk on the Wild Side.

1981 - He died in Sag Harbor, New York on May 9, 1981.