James Agee

A native of Knoxville, James Agee (1909-1955) found a job at Time magazine upon graduation, working his way up to reviewing books and then films. He is regarded as the first American film critic to take the medium seriously as an art form. After leaving journalism, he became a screenwriter for such films as The African Queen and Night of the Hunter. His autobiographical novel A Death in the Family won a Pulitzer Prize. Unfortunately, by the time the book came out, he suffered a fatal heart attack brought on by his heavy smoking and drinking.