Pearl S.Buck, American Author
Pearl Sydenstricker Buck (June 26, 1892 - March 6, 1973) was an American author and novelist. As the daughter of missionaries, Buck spent most of her life before 1934 in Zhenjiang, China. Her novel The Good Earth was the best-selling fiction book in the United States in 1931 and 1932 and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1932. In 1938, she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for her rich and truly epic descriptions of peasant life in China and for her biographical masterpieces''. She was the first American woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. After returning to the United States in 1935, she continued writing prolifically, became a prominent advocate of the rights of women and minority groups. Long before it was considered fashionable or politically safe to do so, Buck challenged the American public by raising consciousness on topics such as racism, sex discrimination and the plight of Asian war children. During her life, Buck combined the careers of wife, mother, author, editor, international spokesperson, and political activist. She died in 1973, from lung cancer, at the age of 80. In 1973, Buck was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame. Photographed by Arnold Genthe, 1932
