Oregon Department of Corrections photo of James Fogle, 1968 

SEATTLE (AP) — The man who wrote "Drugstore Cowboy," an autobiographical
crime novel that led to an acclaimed 1989 film starring Matt Dillon, has died at
age 75.

A state corrections spokeswoman says James Fogle died Thursday at a prison
in Monroe, Wash., where he was serving time for holding up a pharmacy in a
Seattle suburb in 2010. The Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s office on
Friday says Fogle died of probable malignant mesothelioma.

The Seattle Times reports that Fogle had already spent half his life in prison
when he wrote "Drugstore Cowboy," based on his experiences in a band of
addicts who roamed the Pacific Northwest robbing pharmacies to feed their
addictions.

Filmmaker Gus Van Sant turned the novel into the acclaimed 1989 film. It
was filmed mainly around Portland, Oregon, including in an area in the
Pearl District that used to be a rail yard

     
      Director Gus Van Sant

      Francis Scott Key (August 1, 1779 – January 11, 1843)

Francis Scott Key was an American lawyer, author, and amateur poet
who wrote the lyrics to the United States’ national anthem, "The Star-
Spangled Banner". From 1818 until his death, Key was associated
with the American Bible Society.

Artists depiction of Francis Scott Key with Fort McHenry in
the background during the Battle of Baltimore on the night 
of September 13–14, 1814
 

    
     Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961)

Hemingway was an American author and journalist whose writing style
had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction. He produced most of his
work between the mid-1920s and the mid-1950s, and won the Nobel
Prize in Literature in 1954. He published seven novels, six short story
collections and two non-fiction works. Three novels, four collections of
short stories and three non-fiction works were published posthumously
and many of these are considered classics of American literature.

Amelia Mary Earhart

2007

DVD released October 2009

             Harriet Beecher Stowe (June 14, 1811 – July 1, 1896)

Harriet Beecher Stowe was an American abolitionist, teacher and author. She
was born Harriet Elisabeth Beecher in Litchfield, Connecticut, the seventh of
13 children, She moved to Cincinnati, Ohio when she was 21 where she met  
Calvin Ellis Stowe, a widower and professor at Lane Theological Seminary.The 
two married on January 6, 1836.

Her novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852) depicted the life of African-Americans
under slavery; it reached millions as a novel and play. She wrote more than
20 books, including novels, three travel memoirs, and collections of articles
and letters. She was influential both for her writings and her public stands
on social issues of the day.