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Johnson, Denis

(Encyclopedia)Johnson, Denis, 1949–2017, American writer, b. Munich, Germany, where his father was a diplomat; B.A. Univ. of Iowa, 1971, M.F.A. Iowa Writers' Workshop, 1974. Years of drinking and taking drugs end...

Johnson, James Weldon

(Encyclopedia)Johnson, James Weldon, 1871–1938, American author, b. Jacksonville, Fla., educated at Atlanta Univ. (B.A., 1894) and at Columbia. Johnson was the first African American to be admitted to the Florida...

Spencer, Sir Stanley

(Encyclopedia)Spencer, Sir Stanley, 1891–1959, English painter. In his landscapes and his often highly erotic portraits and religious-allegorical scenes, Spencer's paintings express a highly personal magic realis...

Hermetic books

(Encyclopedia)Hermetic books, ancient metaphysical works dealing essentially with the idea of the complete community of all beings and objects. Authorship of the books was attributed to the Egyptian god of wisdom, ...

superstition

(Encyclopedia)superstition, an irrational belief or practice resulting from ignorance or fear of the unknown. The validity of superstitions is based on belief in the power of magic and witchcraft and in such invisi...

witchcraft

(Encyclopedia)witchcraft, a form of sorcery, or the magical manipulation of nature for self-aggrandizement, or for the benefit or harm of a client. This manipulation often involves the use of spirit-helpers, or fam...

Johnson, Emily Pauline

(Encyclopedia)Johnson, Emily Pauline, 1862–1913, Canadian poet, b. near Brantford, Ont.; daughter of an indigenous chief and his English wife. Although she had little formal training, Johnson's early poems praisi...

Johnson, John Harold

(Encyclopedia)Johnson, John Harold, 1918–2005, African-American magazine publisher, b. Arkansas City, Ark. The son of a mill worker, he began his career editing a Chicago insurance company magazine. In 1942 he st...

Tonkin Gulf resolution

(Encyclopedia)Tonkin Gulf resolution, in U.S. history, Congressional resolution passed in 1964 that authorized military action in Southeast Asia. On Aug. 4, 1964, North Vietnamese torpedo boats in the Gulf of Tonki...

Steig, William

(Encyclopedia)Steig, William, 1907–2003, American cartoonist and children's book writer, b. Brooklyn, N.Y. He began drawing cartoons for the The New Yorker in the 1930s, and ultimately produced over 1,600 spontan...
 

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