Sinclair Lewis (1885 - 1951) was a Nobel Prize-winning writer.

Not to be confused with the muckraker, novelist, and leftist political dissident Upton Sinclair—though the men were contemporaries and friendly with each other—Sinclair Lewis was one of the pre-eminent novelists, short-story artists, and playwrights of the first half of the 20th century, particularly in the 1920s.

William Shirer, intrepid journalist and war correspondent and friend of Lewis, noted that compared to "Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Dos Passos, and Faulkner"—the other now more-famous writers of the 1920s—that the impact of Lewis "on modern American life … was greater than all of the other four writers together."

Furthermore, America's foremost literary critic during the time, H. L. Mencken, wrote of Lewis, if "there was ever a novelist among us with an authentic call to the trade … it is this red-haired tornado from the Minnesota wilds."

Lewis had received his bachelor's degree from Yale in 1908, but one Saturday morning in the 1920s, at perhaps the height of his fame, Lewis was scheduled to give a talk at Harvard.

The seminar was for students who wanted to be writers. Forty-five precocious Cantabs showed up to hear Lewis speak.

Promptly, at half-past ten in the morning, Lewis arrived, dapperly attired in a three-piece suit and a fancy briefcase under his arm. He looked around the room, put down his briefcase, opened it up, and took out his notes.

"How many of you want to be writers?" Lewis asked the hungry crowd.

Everyone put up their hand.

"How many really want to be writers?"

Hands went up a little higher.

"How many of you want to make your living by being a writer?"

All of the hands reached further toward the sky.

"Okay," said Lewis. "Put your hands down."

The students followed instructions.

Lewis continued, "In that case, go home and write."

Lewis closed up his briefcase, for that was the end of the seminar. Save one last remark…

"If you want to be a writer, write."

As always,

Brian

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