Irwin Shaw

Irwin Shaw (born Irwin Gilbert Shamforoff) was a prolific American playwright, screenwriter, novelist, and short-story author, best known for his World War II novel The Young Lions (1948) and the bestselling Rich Man, Poor Man (1970), which inspired a popular miniseries. Born to Jewish immigrant parents in the Bronx and raised in Brooklyn, he graduated from Brooklyn College in 1934 and broke through with his anti-war play Bury the Dead (1936). His works, often compared to those of Hemingway and Cheever, have sold over 14 million copies worldwide.