Lewis, Harry Sinclair

Harry Sinclair Lewis, known to his friends as “Red,” was a prolific American novelist, short-story writer, and playwright. Main Street, published in 1920, is Lewis’ best known work.

Born in Sauk Centre, Minnesota on February 7, 1885, to Edwin and Emma Lewis, Lewis had two older brothers, Fred and Claude.

At Yale University where Lewis received a degree from in 1908, Lewis published in the Yale Literary Magazine, the Courant, and the Record. This began a long career of writing novels, plays, and short stories.

Lewis turned down the Pulitzer Prize in literature in 1926, but accepted the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1930.

Lewis was married twice: Grace from 1914 to 1925. They had a son, Wells, who was born in 1917. In 1944, Wells died in combat in France during World War II.

In 1928, Lewis married Dorothy Thompson, a well-known journalist. They had one son, Michael, who was born in 1930. They divorced in 1942. Lewis never remarried.

Lewis died in Rome, Italy on January 10, 1951. His cremated remains were interred in Sauk Centre, Minnesota.