Joseph Heller

Born on May 1st, 1923, in Coney Island Brooklyn, Joseph Heller was a short story writer, playwright and satirical novelist. He graduated from the Abraham Lincoln High School in 1941 and then worked as a blacksmith's apprentice, filing clerk and messenger boy. By next year, he enrolled in the U. S. Army Air Corps. On his return, he studied English at NYU and the University of Southern California. Heller obtained his M.A. in English from Columbia University in 1949. He also taught dramatic writing and fiction at Yale and over the years has written several books and novels.