Gregory Corso (no u!) it is! Pulpscrypt, you're up!

Well, it looks like Pulpscript was yet another “drive-by” poster who solved the puzzle but didn’t bother to follow through. Here’s a new mystery personality:

I was born in 1946 in Baltimore, Maryland. I was raised Roman Catholic by my mother, who was an adherent to the faith, though my father was not.

At 7 years old, I developed an interested in puppets, staging violent versions of Punch and Judy for children's birthday parties.

As a boy I was also fascinated with the “greasers” movement. Tacky films at a local drive-in, which I watched from a distance through binoculars, also had an effect on me.

John Waters?

That was quick, Karnak! You didn’t need any of my other clues:

I was a great fan of the music of Little Richard when growing up. Many years later, Playboy magazine employed me to interview my idol, but the interview did not go well, with me remarking: "It turned into kind of a disaster.”

While still a teenager, I frequently visited a beatnik bar in downtown Baltimore. Although underage and therefore not admitted into the bar proper, I loitered in the adjacent alley, where I relied on the kindness of patrons to slip me drinks.

At college in 1966, I got caught smoking marijuana on the grounds of NYU. Kicked out of my dormitory, I returned to Baltimore, where I started making movies.

My early films presented exaggerated characters in outrageous situations, which pushed hard at the boundaries of conventional propriety and movie censorship.

In the 1980s, my films became less controversial and more mainstream. The last movie I produced was turned into a hit Broadway musical that swept the Tony Awards.

Besides film-making, I also have other ventures: I am a bibliophile, with a collection of over 8,000 books. And since the early 1990s, I’ve been making photo-based artwork and installations that have been internationally exhibited in galleries and museums.

My art pieces are often comical, and I’ve characterized my work as conceptual: "The craft is not the issue here. The idea is. And the presentation.”

In 1999, I was honored with a filmmaker award at the Provincetown International Film Festival. In 2016, I received an honorary degree from the Maryland Institute College of Art.

Two of my books were nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album. And 2018, I was named an Officier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, a cultural award from the French government.

You’re next, Karnak.

I read what I think may have been his first book decades ago, and remembered his roots in Baltimore (beehive hairdo capital of the world in the 1950s & 60s, according to him). Haven’t seen any of his films in decades either, but may now have add a few of his early classics (starring Divine) to my Amazon Prime queue!

I was born in Lansing MI in 1952.

I launched my cinematic career as an action hero in 1982, with an early string of gritty box-office hits featuring myself as a tough inner-city cop (but different roles in each film, not the same single continuing character). By 1992, I was starring in bigger-budgeted, more mainstream (but still action-oriented) Hollywood successes.

However, my shining star then began to dim; all of my films since 2001 have been direct-to-video releases (at least in the US).

Steven Seagal

Wow, that was quick, too! Sensei Seagal it is, indeed -- didn't even get into mentioning his aikido!

It seems to me we've had Steven Seagal before. He's on my list of the next 100 names since Cliff's (we're up to 89 thus far).

For some reason, I came across his name recently, and it was mentioned that he was born in Lansing.

1. I was born in St. Louis, Missouri to German parents.

2. My half-brother was the St. Louis Health Commissioner who introduced social distancing during the 1918 flu pandemic.

3. Because of my father's travels United States Consul, I received some informal education in Bremen, Germany and Lausanne, Switzerland.

(As an aside, I'll tell you that this person is the author of a well-known book. As the author's name might not be as well-known, I'll give full credit for an answer naming the book. But if you can name the author, all the better.)

Benjamin Spock?

Not Dr. Spock.

4. Upon returning to the United States, I took classes in fine arts at Washington University in St. Louis.

Hey Bill, regarding your "as an aside" comments: Maybe then it will be helpful if the clues concern the book, and not the author.

They will.

Thanks!

5. I married the son of a St. Louis judge; my father-in-law had clerked for Supreme Court Justice John Harlan.

6. I had three children: a son who died before his first birthday, a daughter, and another son. My daughter figures prominently in the book about which Arthur was asking.

7. My husband became Speaker of the St. Louis House of Delegates, while I was involved with many civic and cultural organizations.

Using your tactic to move things along, Bill, I'm going to say Maya Angelou.

Not Ms. Angelou.

8. It's rather odd that I should have written my famous book, because it dealt with an area in which I was not particularly skilled, though I got better.

9. My husband suffered from occasional bouts of depression. After 30 years of marriage, three months after the '29 stock market crash, my husband committed suicide, leaving me emotionally shattered and financially insecure. I was 52 years old, without a job, and with only $6,000 in savings. My younger son had moved to Florida, my daughter was about to be married. I needed to earn a living. I announced that I intended to write a book.

Harper Lee (author of To Kill A Mockingbird)?