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Gurney, A. R.

(Encyclopedia)Gurney, A. R. (Albert Ramsdell Gurney, Jr.), 1930–2017, American dramatist, b. Buffalo, N.Y., B.A. Williams College, 1952, M.F.A. Yale School of Drama, 1958. He is best known for often humorous anal...

Shoemaker, Bill

(Encyclopedia)Shoemaker, Bill (William Lee Shoemaker), 1931–2003, American jockey, b. Fabens, Tex. A schoolboy wrestler and Golden Gloves boxer, he became a jockey and won his first race at age 18. The former all...

McEwan, Ian

(Encyclopedia)McEwan, Ian (Ian Russell McEwan) məkyo͞oˈən [key], 1948–, English novelist, b. Aldershot, B.A. Univ. of Sussex, 1970, M.A. Univ. of East Anglia, 1971. His early short-story collections, First Lo...

Kerouac, Jack

(Encyclopedia)Kerouac, Jack (John Kerouac) kĕrˈəwăkˌ [key], 1922–69, American novelist, b. Lowell, Mass., studied at Columbia. One of the leaders of the beat generation, a term he is said to have coined, he ...

conflict of laws

(Encyclopedia)conflict of laws, that part of the law in each state, country, or other jurisdiction that determines whether, in dealing with a particular legal situation, its law or the law of some other jurisdictio...

Hazlitt, William

(Encyclopedia)Hazlitt, William, 1778–1830, English essayist. The son of a reform-mindeed Unitarian minister, he abandoned the idea of entering the clergy and took up painting, philosophy, and later journalism. He...

Albright, Madeleine

(Encyclopedia)Albright, Madeleine, 1937–2022, American government official, b. Prague, Czechoslovakia, as Maria Jana Körbel. Her family immigrated to the United States in 1948, and she attended Welle...

Salish

(Encyclopedia)Salish, indigenous people of North America, also known as the Flathead, who in the early 19th cent. inhabited the Bitterroot River valley of W Montana. Their language belongs to the Salishan branch of...

community college

(Encyclopedia)community college, public institution of higher education. Community colleges are characterized by a two-year curriculum that leads to either the associate degree or transfer to a four-year college. T...

Abernathy, Ralph David

(Encyclopedia)Abernathy, Ralph David ăbˈərnăthˌē [key], 1926–90, American civil-rights leader, b. Linden, Ala. A Baptist minister, he helped Martin Luther King, Jr., organize the Montgomery bus boycott (195...