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Pynchon, John

(Encyclopedia)Pynchon, John pĭnˈchən [key], c.1626–1703, American colonist and merchant, b. England; son of William Pynchon. He emigrated to Massachusetts Bay colony with his father in 1630. When his father re...

Baliol, John de, d. 1269, founder of Balliol College, Oxford

(Encyclopedia)Baliol, John de, d. 1269, nobleman with lands in both England and Scotland; founder of Balliol College, Oxford. The name is also spelled Balliol. In 1249 he became a member of the Scottish council of ...

Constable, John

(Encyclopedia)Constable, John, 1776–1837, English painter, b. Suffolk. Constable and Turner were the leading figures in English landscape painting of the 19th cent. Constable became famous for his landscapes of S...

Clemens, Roger

(Encyclopedia)Clemens, Roger (William Roger Clemens) klĕmˈənz [key], 1962–, American baseball player, b. Dayton, Ohio. Noted for his competitive fire and nicknamed “Roger the Rocket,” Clemens became one of...

Four-H

(Encyclopedia)Four-H or 4-H, organization for boys and girls, generally from 8 to 18 years of age; some states offer programs for younger children, and there are also collegiate programs. 4-H teaches young people l...

flying fish

(Encyclopedia)flying fish, common name for members of the Exocoetidae, a family of carnivorous or herbivorous fish of warmer seas. Flying fishes usually swim in schools. They average 7 to 12 in. (17.5–30 cm) in l...

Murray, James Stuart, 1st earl of

(Encyclopedia)Murray or Moray, James Stuart, 1st earl of both: mûrˈē [key], 1531?–1570, Scottish nobleman. An illegitimate son of James V by a daughter of the earl of Mar, he was, therefore, half-brother of Ma...

parody

(Encyclopedia)parody, mocking imitation in verse or prose of a literary work. The following poem by Robert Southey was parodied by Lewis Carroll: “You are old, Father William,” the young man cried; “The few l...

Lehmann, John

(Encyclopedia)Lehmann, John lāˈmən [key], 1907–89, English poet, editor, and publisher. Educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, he began working at Virginia and Leonard Woolf's Hogarth Press in 1931 and manage...

Kingsolver, Barbara

(Encyclopedia)Kingsolver, Barbara, 1955–, American writer, b. Annapolis, Md., B.S. DePauw Univ., 1977, M.S. Univ. of Arizona, 1981. She studied biology and ecology and was a science writer before completing The B...