Ernst Jünger (1895-1998) was born in Heidelberg and early on developed a fascination with war. As a teenager, he ran away to join the French Foreign Legion, then enlisted in the German Army of the first day of World War I. Jünger’s first book, Storm of Steel, provided a graphic account of his experiences. Jünger kept his distance from the Nazis, and his 1939 novel On the Marble Cliffs presented an allegorical account of the destructive nature of Hitler’s rule. One of the most controversial of twentieth-century German writers, Jünger was the recipient of numerous literary prizes, and continued his career as a writer until his death at the age of 102.

Elizabeth Mayer (1884-1970) was a German-born American translator and editor. In the 1940s her homes in Long Island and New York served as artistic salons for many émigré writers.

Louise Bogan (1897-1970) served as poetry editor of The New Yorker for nearly 40 years and was appointed United States Poet Laureate in 1945. Her Collected Poems won the Bollingen Prize in 1955.

Bruce Sterling is a science-fiction writer and pop-science journalist. He lives in Austin, Texas.