Literary Figures
- Robert Baer (raised in Aspen) – Author and a former CIA case officer assigned to the Middle East. Wrote the books See No Evil and Sleeping with the Devil.
- Neal Cassady (born in Salt Lake City, Utah, raised in Denver) – Important figure of the Beat Generation, known for being characterized as Dean Moriarty in Jack Kerouac's novel On the Road.
- Clive Cussler (lives in Golden) – Best-selling novelist known for his Raise the Titanic and Deep Six.
- Eugene Field (lived in Denver) – Poet and journalist known for his work in children’s literature, wrote such poems as Little Boy Blue and Wynken, Blynken, and Nod.
- Allen Ginsberg (lived in Boulder) – Beat poet, author of Howl and Kaddish, co-founder of the Naropa Institute’s Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics in Boulder.
- Helen Hunt Jackson (lived in Colorado Springs) – wrote about the relationship between Coloradans and the Native Indian Tribes, and is often remembered for her brave stance in novels such as A Century of Dishonor and Ramona.
- Ken Kesey (born in La Junta, Colorado) – Author of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.
- James Albert Michener (attended college in Greeley) – worked as a professor at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley where his archives are presently held. His novel Centennial, is about Colorado history.
- Sayyid Qutb (1906–1966) author, poet, educator, and Islamic political theorist who described his stay in Greeley in the censorious article The America that I Have Seen that aroused Anti-American Sentiment among many Muslims. Executed by Egypt.
- Marguerite Roberts (born in Greeley, Colorado) – Screenwriter.
- Lowell Thomas (born in Woodington, Ohio, but raised in Victor, Colorado) – writer, journalist, broadcaster and traveler best known as the man who made Lawrence of Arabia famous.
- Hunter S. Thompson (lived in Woody Creek, Colorado, creator of Gonzo Journalism and important literary figure.
- Dalton Trumbo (born in Montrose, Colorado; lived in Grand Junction, Colorado; attended the University of Colorado at Boulder) – author of Johnny Got His Gun and Academy Award winning screenwriter for his work in The Brave One. He also wrote the scripts for Spartacus, Exodus, Hawaii, and Papillon. He was blacklisted during the 1950s with the "Hollywood 10."
- Elmo Scott Watson (Lived in Colorado Springs and Denver) – journalist who specialized in the American West
- Connie Willis (Lives in Greeley, Colorado) – One of the most honored science fiction writers of the 1980s and 1990s.
Read more about this topic: List Of People From Colorado
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