Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, American poet, b. 1807. He wrote The Song of Hiawatha, Paul Revere’s Ride, The Wreck of the Hesperus, and Evangeline. I still remember reading Evangeline in the ninth grade. I thought it was terribly romantic.
John Steinbeck, American author of depressing novels, b. 1902. I also remember reading Cannery Row sometime when I was in high school. It is not a pleasant memory. I prefer Longfellow to Steinbeck any day, and if that preference makes me a Philistine sobeit.