Born at 4664 Pershing Ave., William Burroughs
attended Community School and John Burroughs School. He was a cub reporter for the St.
Louis Post-Dispatch in 1935. During World War II, Burroughs met Jack Kerouac and Allen
Ginsberg, forming the core of the "Beat Generation." An author and visual
artist, he is best-known for his writing, which is radically unconventional in technique
and content. It often has been banned. His 1960 novel, The Naked Lunch, influenced an
entire generation. Burroughs was inducted into the American Academy and Institute of Arts
and Letters in 1983.
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Ken Thomas, Thomas Jefferson Library, UMSL, accepted the award on behalf of Mr. Burroughs. |