Thornton Wilder – 1897-1975

Wilder focused on small places and specific events to convey universal truths of human existence and human nature. In his 1927 novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey, he used the collapse of an obscure Peruvian bridge in the 18th century to examine the lives of five persons killed in the tragedy. In his most famous work, the play Our Town (1938), Wilder peered into the lives of the inhabitants of a small American town, evoking moving elements of their common humanity.