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SUMMARY: James Arthur Baldwin (August 2, 1924 – November 30, 1987) American novelist and civil rights activist.
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James Arthur Baldwin was an American writer, novelist, playwright, poet, essayist, and civil rights activist. He his most notably known for his novels on sexual and personal identity and biting essays on civil rights movements in the United States. His first novel, “Go tell it on the mountain” was the one that gave him his first dose of fame. Several of his novels also dealt with homosexual connections and the pressures of being black. This was well before the social and cultural groups could be assumed.

Early Life

James Baldwin was born in 1924 in Harlem, New York City. He was the first of his mother’s nine children but never met his biological father nor did he even know the man’s identity. At the age of three his mother married a man by the name of David Baldwin who became his father figure, but was a harsh and cruel man. James Baldwin grew up in extreme poverty but found his love through literature and read many books as a child. Although his stepfather opposed his literary aspirations, Baldwin found support from his teacher and from the mayor of New York City, Fiorello H. LaGuardia. When Baldwin was 12 he published his first story in the church newspaper. By the time he was 17 he had graduated from high school, left home and had been employed in several ill paid jobs. It was then that he began his literary apprenticeship.

Inspiration

Like many writers, there are people that come in and out of our lives that have great influence on the way in which we write and what we write about. One such man for James Baldwin as Richard Wright. Baldwin called Richard Wright the “greatest black writer in the world for me” and they quickly became good friends. It was during this period that Baldwin wrote a collection of essays entitles “Notes of a Native Son” in reference to Wright’s novel “Native Son.” Their friendship would be short lived, as Baldwin made the assertion that Wright’s “Native Son” novel did not have “credible characters and psychological complexity.” Although Baldwin still greatly admired Wright, and tried to explain his statements, they were never friends again.

Another prominent influent in the life of James Baldwin was an African American painter by the name of Beauford Delaney. Baldwin described Delaney as “the first living proof, for me, that a black man could be an artist.” As this was not a time where any black man would have been considered a white man’s teacher (which is how Baldwin saw him), Delaney became a courageous example of integrity, humility, and passion. He said about Delaney, “An absolute integrity: I saw him shaken many times and lived to see him broken but I never saw him bow.”

His next most prominent influence was a singer, painter, and civil rights activist named Nina Simone. Baldwin, along with Langston Hughes and Lorraine Hansberry was responsible for making her aware of the racial inequalities that existed between blacks and whites. He also left her with literary references to help increase her knowledge on this point.

Later Life

In 1948 James Baldwin left his home town and moved to Europe; his first destination being Paris. During his time in Europe he wrote an essay called “Stranger in the Village.” This essay portrayed many of his feelings of helplessness and strangeness in a new country. When he finally returned to the United States he became actively involved with the Civil Rights Movement. He was among the people who marched with Martin Luther King Jr. to Washington D.C. He was on the faculty of Five Colleges in Massachusetts where he mentored and trained successful playwrights such as Suzan-Lori Parks and Mount Holyoke. He spent his later years in St. Paul de Vence on the Riviera, France and died from stomach cancer on November 30 1987.

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SUMMARY: William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) British playwright, poet
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William Shakespeare, also referred to as the “Bard” was an English poet, playwright and actor and is thought of by many as the greatest writer in the English language. After his death he left behind 38 plays, 154 Sonnets, and several narrative poems. His poems have been translated and performed all over the world.

The Life of Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was the son of John Shakespeare. He was born in Stratford-upon-Avon and was baptized into his religion on April 26 1564. He was the third child of eight in his family and the oldest surviving son. Shakespeare’s was educated in many different schools. He attended the King’s New School in Stratford, and chartered school in 1553, and also Grammar schools during the Elizabethan era. William Shakespeare married at the age of 18 to a woman named Anne Hathaway. The marriage ceremony was arranged I haste and some believe this was because of Anne’s pregnancy. Six months after they were married she gave birth to their first daughter, Susanna. They were blessed with two other children two years later; son Hamnet, and daughter Judith. Unfortunately Hamnet would only live 11 years. He died due to unknown causes at the age of 11 and was buried in 1596.

Shakespeare seemed to have disappeared after the birth of his twins. Scholars have often referred to this time period as Shakespeare’s “lost years.” There were many stories as to the unknown whereabouts of Shakespeare at this time from illegal deer poaching to minding the horses in a nearby London theatre to being a school master. No evidence has ever been found to substantiate any of the tall tales.

No one knows exactly when Shakespeare’s writing career began but there are records showing that many of his plays became popular and hit the stage in 1592. Robert Greene, a playwright critic knew Shakespeare well enough by then to attack some of his writings. Shakespeare’s play from about 1594 were only performed by the Lord Chamberlain’s Men; a company owned by a group of players, one of which was Shakespeare. His plays became so well known and loved that The Lord Chamberlain’s men became the leading play company in London. After the death of the Queen they changed their name to the King’s Men.

Shakespeare’s Plays
Of course, today we know and recognize the name Shakespeare because of his contributory plays that he left behind. Scholars have divided Shakespeare writing career into four different periods. Up until the mid 1590’s he wrote mainly comedies which were influenced by the Roman and Italian models. From 1595 until about the 1600’s he wrote his tragedies. His most popular ones we recognize today are Romeo and Juliet, and the last which he wrote; Julius Caesar. From about 1600 to 1608 scholars have said he wrote more tragedies, and then from about 1608 to 1613 he wrote tragicomedies called romances. Some of his other more famous playwright’s which have not already been mentioned are Henry VI, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Much Ado about nothing, and of course the famous Hamlet and Macbeth plays.

Shakespeare’s works made a lasting impression upon theatre as well as literature. He may not have received the same recognition in his day as he has received in ours, but was appreciated by the people of his time. William Shakespeare died on April 23 1616 and was buried in Stratford upon Avon.

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SUMMARY: Will Rogers (November 4, 1879 – August 15, 1935) American cowboy, comedian, humorist, social commentator
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William Peen Adair Rogers was born on the Dog Iron Ranch in Indian Territory, near present-day Oologah, Oklahoma. He quickly became known as Will to his family and friends. The house where he was born was built in 1875 and was known as the “White House on the Verdigris River. Both of his parents Clement Vann Rogers and Mary America Schrimsher were each of Cherokee heritage. Rogers famously quipped that his ancestors did not come over on the Mayflower but they “met the boat”. Will’s father Clement Rogers was a distinguished figure in Indian Territory. He served as both a Cherokee senator and judge and he served as a delegate to the Oklahoma Constitutional Convention. He was so well known that Rogers County, Oklahoma is named in honor of Clement Rogers. Will’s mother Mary Rogers was the daughter of a Cherokee chief. She died suddenly when Will was 11, and his father remarried less than two years after her death.

Will Rogers was the youngest of his parents’ eight children. The family suffered a great deal of tragedy when only three of his siblings, sisters Sallie Clementine, Maude Ethel, and May (Mary), survived into adulthood. Will attended Willow Hassel School in Neosho, Missouri, and later Kemper Military School in Boonville, Missouri. He chose to end his studies after the 10th grade. Records show that he was a poor student and was much more interested in cowboys and horses, learning to rope and use a lariat

After ending his formal education, Rogers worked the Dog Iron Ranch for a few years. He and a friend left home near the end of 1901 with aspirations to work as gauchos in Argentina. They finally made it to Argentina in May 1902, and spent five months trying to make it as ranch owners in the Argentine wilderness. Unfortunately, Rogers and his partner lost all their money, so the two friends separated and Rogers sailed for South Africa, where he took a job breaking in horses for the British Army near the end of the Boer War. After the war ended and the British Army no longer required his services, he began his show business career as a trick roper in “Texas Jack’s Wild West Circus”. He eventually quit the circus and returned to the United States in 1904, and began to try his roping skills on the American vaudeville circuits.

Will’s success on the vaudeville circuits led to his success in film. At first the medium of silent film seemed to slow him down and damper his enthusiasm since much of his fame depended on his witty commentary. He ended up writing many of the title cards that appeared in his films which made them even more memorable. With the advent of “talkies” Will Rogers became a star. His films became instant successes and his fame was international. He ultimately made 71 films in all.

Will began writing a weekly column, titled “Slipping the Lariat Over,” at the end of 1922. He had already published a book of wisecracks and had begun a steady stream of humor books. Through his continuing series of columns between 1922 and 1935, as well his personal appearances and radio broadcasts, he won the loving admiration of the American people.

In 1908, Rogers married Betty Blake, and the couple added four children to their family: Will Rogers, Jr. (Bill), Mary Amelia (Mary), James Blake (Jim), and Fred Stone. The family lived most of the time in New York, but they managed to make it home to Oklahoma during the summers. In 1911, Rogers bought a 20-acre ranch near Claremore, Oklahoma, which he intended to use as his retirement home, paying only $500 per acre.

An avid supporter of aviation, Will undertook a flight around the world with a fellow Oklahoman, world-renowned aviator Wiley Post, in the summer of 1935. Post’s plane was an experimental and nose-heavy hybrid of Lockheed Explorer and Orion. The plane crashed south of Barrow, Alaska, on August 15, 1935 when its engine failed on takeoff, killing both men. Millions around the world mourned his passing.

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SUMMARY: Virginia Woolf (January 25, 1882 – March 28, 1941) British novelist, critic
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Adeline Virginia Stephen was born on January 25, 1882 in London, England. She was the daughter of Sir Leslie Stephen a literary critic and first editor of the Dictionary of National Biography. Virginia’s mother was his second wife, Julia Prinsep Jackson Duckworth. Virginia had two brothers, Thoby and Adrian. She was always very close to her older sister Vanessa whom she called ‘Nessa’ who would become a painter and marry art critic Clive Bell. She also had four half-siblings from her father’s first marriage; Laura Makepeace Stephen, George, Gerald (who would found Duckworth and Co. Publishing) and Stella Duckworth. Her father Sir Leslie Stephen laid the foundation for his children’s love of literature by having a massive library in the house. Virginia was known to be an avid reader but would soon reject the traditional mores and values of that generation.

The Stephens often summered at ‘Talland House’ in St. Ives, County Cornwall in the southwest of England along the rocky shores of the Atlantic Ocean. Virginia often recalled the fond memories of these times which had an influence on her writing including visits to a nearby lighthouse. Sadly these happy times ended when her mother died when she was just thirteen years old and she then suffered the first major breakdown of many that would plague her off and on the rest of her life. Following this was the trauma of the death of Stella, who had become like a mother to Virginia and then the death of her father which caused another period of profound depression. As the oldest surviving sibling Vanessa then moved her sister and brothers to another neighborhood in London, Bloomsbury. Virginia began feeling better and by 1905 was writing in earnest both articles and essays, and became a book reviewer for the Times Literary Supplement. She also taught English and History at nearby Morley College in London.

In 1906 Virginia, Vanessa and their brothers traveled to Europe, where Thoby contracted typhoid fever and died. Back in England their home had became a meeting place for both authors and artists. Virginia married left-wing political journalist, author and editor Leonard Woolf on August 10, 1912. They would have no children. In 1914 when World War I broke out they were living in Richmond and Woolf was working on her writing with all her devotion.

Leonard and Virginia would themselves get into the publishing business and together they founded the Hogarth Press in 1917. At the outbreak of WWII the Woolfs were living at their country retreat, ‘Monk’s House’ near the village of Rodmell in Lewes, Sussex. In 1940 they received word that their London home had been destroyed. With the fear of a German invasion looming and Leonard’s Jewish heritage the couple decided to make a suicide pact if the possibility of falling into German hands arose. Leonard was ever vigilant to the onset of the next major depressive episode in his wife; and knew that one was near when she would get migraine headaches and lay sleepless at night. However both her husband and her doctor failed to see to that a major depressive episode would end her life.

Virginia Woolf died on March 28, 1941 after committing suicide. She drowned herself in the River Ouse near their home in Sussex, by putting rocks in her coat pockets. Her body was not found until April. She was then cremated; her ashes spread under two elms at Monks’ House. She had left a note indicating that she felt herself going mad and feared she would not recover.

Woolf was to prove herself to be an innovative and influential 20th Century author. In many of her novels she moves away from the use of plot and structure to employ stream-of-consciousness to emphasize the psychological aspects of her characters. Themes in her works included studies of gender relations, class hierarchy and the consequences of war. She was also among the founders of the Modernist movement which also includes T. S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, James Joyce, and Gertrude Stein.

Virginia Woolf spent much of her life fighting the effects of bi-polar disorder and was frequently hospitalized as a “rest cure”. She attributed much of her suffering from the sexual abuse she received from her half-brother. Much of her work was also colored by her own mental instabilities (she referred to herself as “mad” on many occasions) her confusion about her sexual orientation and her feminist views. Regardless of history’s view Woolf’s prodigious output of diaries, letters, critical reviews, essays, short stories, and novels continue to be the source of much scholarly study.

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SUMMARY: Will Durant (November 5, 1885–November 7, 1981) American philosopher, historian, writer
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Will Durant was born in North Adams, Massachusetts on November 5, 1885 to French-Canadian parents. His parents Joseph Durant and Mary Allard had been part of the Quebec emigration to the United States. Much is unknown about Will Durant’s early life but it is certain that he was raised with idealistic principles as he spent much of his later life in the fight for equal wages, women’s suffrage and fairer working conditions for the American labor force.

Durant not only wrote on many topics but also worked to put his ideas into effect.
Will Durant has been largely credit with attempting to bring philosophy to the common man. Some of his best known works are: “The Story of Philosophy”, “The Mansions of Philosophy”, and, with the help of his wife, Ariel, wrote “The Story of Civilization”. He also wrote magazine articles that were widely published. .

Will’s early education was by the Jesuits in St. Peter’s Preparatory School and, later, Saint Peter’s College in Jersey City, New Jersey. In 1905, he decided to become a Socialist. He graduated in 1907. He then worked as a reporter for Arthur Brisbane’s New York Evening Journal for ten dollars a week. At the Evening Journal, he gained a following when he wrote several articles on sexual criminals.

In 1907, he also began teaching Latin, French, English and geometry at Seton Hall University, South Orange, New Jersey. Will also held the post of librarian at the college.
In 1911 he left he left Seton. He became the teacher and chief pupil of the Ferrer Modern School, which was an experiment in libertarian education. While at the Modern School, he fell in love with and married a pupil, thirteen years his junior, Chaya (Ida) Kaufman, whom he later nicknamed “Ariel”. The Durants had one child, a daughter Ethel, and later adopted a son whom they named Louis.

In 1913, he resigned his post as teacher and began lecturing in a Presbyterian church for five- and ten-dollar fees. In 1917, while working on a doctorate in philosophy, Will Durant wrote his first book, Philosophy and the Social Problem. In the paper he discussed the idea that philosophy had not grown because it avoided the actual problems of society. He went on to receive his doctorate in 1917. During this time he was also an instructor at Columbia University. In 1926 he retired from teaching and began writing full-time.

For their work on Rousseau and Revolution, (1967), which is the 10th volume of The Story of Civilization, the Durants were awarded the Pulitzer Prize for literature; later followed by the highest award granted by the United States government to civilians, the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Ford in 1977.

The Durants were also well-known for their remarkable love story. They were a memorable couple within their work and outside of it. They detail their love story in the book “Dual Autobiography”. Remarkably even death was not to separate them as they died within two weeks of each other in 1981 (she on October 25 and he on November 7). Fearing what this news would do to her father their daughter, Ethel, and grandchildren strove to keep the death of his Ariel from the ailing Will. Sadly, he learned of it on the evening news, and he himself died at the age of 96. He was buried beside his wife in Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles.

Two posthumous works by Will Durant have been published in the last several years, The Greatest Minds and Ideas of All Time (2002) and Heroes of History: A Brief History of Civilization from Ancient Times to the Dawn of the Modern Age (2001). His wife Ariel is credited with contributing significantly to these books as well.

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SUMMARY: Victor Hugo (February 26, 1802 – May 22, 1885) French poet, playwright, novelist, essayist, visual artist, statesman, human rights campaigner,
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While Victor Hugo does not have the largest resume of writing he is considered to be one of the most important French Romantic writers. He was a novelist, poet and dramatist and some of his best known works are “The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Les Miserables.

Victor Hugo was born in Besancon, France on February 26, 1802. He was a sickly infant who barely survived birth and was only kept alive by the devotion of his mother. His father was an army general, who taught young Victor to admire Napoleon as a hero. After his parents separated he was raised and educated in Paris by his mother, where the family settled when Hugo was two. From 1815 to 1818 Hugo attended the Lycee Louis-le Grand in Paris. He began his writing career early by writing tragedies and poetry, and translated Virgil. Hugo’s first collection of poems, Odes Et Poesies Diverses was so well received that it gained him a royal pension from Louis XVIII. As a novelist Hugo made his debut with Han D’Islande in 1823 followed by Bug-Jargal in 1826. In 1822 Hugo married Adele Foucher. She was the daughter of an officer at the ministry of war and historical experts state that she was Victor’s cousin. They had 5 children: Leopold, Leopoldine, Charles, Francois-Victor and Adele.

Hugo gained wider fame with his play “Hernani” written in 1830 and with his famous historical work “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” written in 1831 which became an instant success. Since The Hunchback’s appearance in 1831 the story has became part of popular culture. The novel which is set in 15th century Paris, tells a moving story of a gypsy girl Esmeralda and the deformed bell ringer, Quasimodo, who loves her.

In the 1830s Hugo also published several volumes of lyric poetry. Hugo’s lyrical style was rich, intense and full of powerful sounds and rhythms, and although it followed the popular taste of the period it also had bitter personal tones.

In his later life Hugo became heavily involved in politics as a supporter of the republican form of government. After three unsuccessful attempts, Hugo was finally elected in 1841 to the Academie Francaise. This political triumph was shadowed by the death of Hugo’s daughter Leopoldine in 1843. It was only after a decade that Hugo began again publishing books. He devoted himself to politics, with his emphasis on advocating social justice. He continued to serve in political office and after the 1848 revolution, with the formation of the Second Republic, Hugo was then elected to the Constitutional Assembly and to the Legislative Assembly.

When the coup by Louis Napoleon (Napoleon III) took place in 1851, Hugo then believed his life to be in danger. He fled with his family to Brussels and then to Jersey and Guernsey along the English Channel. Hugo’s partly voluntary exile was to last nearly 20 years. During this time period he wrote at Hauteville House some his best works, including Les Chatimets in 1853 and Les Miserables in 1862, which has become the epic story about social injustice.

The political upheaval that continued in France and the proclamation of the Third Republic made Hugo decide to return to France. During the time period of the Paris Commune, Hugo decided to live in Brussels, until he was expelled for sheltering defeated revolutionaries. He then moved to Luxemburg but after a short time of living as a refuge he returned to Paris and was elected senator. His later years were marred by the loss of his daughter, wife and mistress and the need to commit his daughter Adele to an insane asylum. Victor Hugo died in Paris on May 22, 1885 from an infection. He was given a national funeral, which was attended by two million people, and buried in the Pantheon.

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SUMMARY: Truman Capote (30 September 1924 – 25 August 1984) American novelist, playwright
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Truman Capote was an American novelist, short story writer, and playwright. He gained international fame with his “nonfiction novel” “In Cold Blood” which is an account of a real life crime in which an entire family was murdered by two sociopaths.

Truman was born in New Orleans. His father was a salesman and his mother 16-year-old beauty queen, Lillie Mae Faulk. His father, Archulus Persons, worked as a clerk for a steamboat company. Persons was never able to hold any job for long, and was always leaving home in search of new opportunities. This led to an unhappy marriage which gradually disintegrated. When Capote was only four, his parents divorced.

Truman spent his youth in Monroeville, Alabama. He lived many years with his relatives, one of whom became the model for the loving, elderly spinster of the author’s novels, stories, and plays. Truman’s contact with his mother, Lillie Mae, was limited she often wrote letters and telephoned her son, crying that she had no money and no husband.

When Capote’s mother married again, this time to a well-to-do businessman, Truman moved to New York, and adopted his stepfather’s surname. He attended the Trinity School and St. John’s Academy in New York, and the public schools of Greenwich, Connecticut. At the age of seventeen, Capote chose to end his formal schooling. He was able to find work at the New Yorker, where he attracted attention with his eccentric style of dress.

Capote’s early stories were published in many quality magazines and in 1946 he won the O.Henry award. During this time Capote established his fame among the cultural circles as the thin voiced, promising young writer, who could brighten up parties with his sharp and clever remarks.

During the next year Truman went to Europe, where he wrote fiction and non-fiction. Among his major works at the time was a profile of Marlon Brando. Following return to the United States in 1958, Truman wrote “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”. Truman’s increasing preoccupation with journalism formed the basis for his bestseller “In Cold Blood”, a pioneering work of documentary novel or “nonfiction novel”. The work started from an article in The New York Times. The research work and writing of the book took six years to finish. Truman used neither a tape recorder nor note pad, but emptied his interviews and impressions into notebooks at the end of his day

Truman continued to write but problems with drink and drugs, and disputes with other writers, such as Gore Vidal, exhausted Capote’s creative energies. In interviews, Truman’s habit of giving negative anecdotes about the people he knew distanced him from his friends.

Truman lived the life of an open homosexual and was known for his eccentric ways. On November 28th, 1966, he threw one of the most spectacular bashes in the history of New York, the Black and White Ball which was held at the Plaza Hotel. The ball was given in honor of Washington Post publisher Katherine Graham, who was then the most powerful woman in the country. The gala celebration began at ten and went until breakfast the following morning. Approximately five hundred people from the most stellar reaches of society were invited and were given a precise dress code. Men were expected in black tie, with black mask; women in black or white dress with a white mask, plus a fan. The blowout created front page news all over the country.

Truman Capote died in Los Angeles, California, on August 26, 1984, of liver disease complicated by phlebitis and multiple drug intoxication. His life and work have inspired numerous books and movies about him.

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SUMMARY: Wayne Gretzky (b. January 26, 1961) American ice hockey player
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Wayne Gretzky was born on January 26, 1961 in the town of Brantford, Ontario, Canada. He began his passion to play hockey in a backyard rink with his father Walter Gretzky and attributes his strong values to his mother Phyllis Gretzky. His father would flood the backyard using a sprinkler to turn the ice into a hockey rink for Wayne and his brothers. Even at the young age of eleven, Wayne Gretzky began raising many eyebrows on the ice by collecting 517 points in a season. At only seventeen years old, he led Team Canada to a bronze medal in the World Junior championship, topping the tournament with 17 points in six games. Wayne Gretzky began his professional career with the Indianapolis Racers of the World Hockey Association in 1978 shortly before he turned 18 years old. He was traded to the Edmonton Oilers in 1978-79 and began his National Hockey League career when the Edmonton Oilers moved from the WHA to the National Hockey League during the 1979-80 season. Gretzky delighted fans in his first year, scoring 137 points but missed the Art Ross Trophy as Marcel Dionne had one more goal. But the young hockey phenomenon was awarded the Hart Memorial trophy as the most valuable player in the National Hockey League.

Gretzky would go on to make hockey history by winning seven straight Art Ross Trophies, and ten in total. He broke and then set long-standing hockey records for most goals in a season (92), assists (163) and points (215). He also led the Edmonton Oilers to four Stanley Cup Championships during the 1980’s. Gretzky will always be remembered for his play in the 1987 Canada Cup final that landed Team Canada the gold medal. His pass to a streaking Mario Lemieux was to lead to the game winning goal, late in the third period. Wayne’s hockey career in Edmonton came to an end in 1988 when he was traded to the Los Angles Kings. Rumors have speculated that the Oilers might have had little choice due to their financial woes, but hockey fans in Canada were in a state of shock and disbelief.

Edmonton’s loss was certainly LA’s hockey gain as Gretzky was to usher in a new era for hockey in Southern California. He surpassed hockey legend Gordie Howe’s records of all-time goals and points leader and had a very successful seven year stint in LA. In 1993 he even led the Kings team all the way to the Stanley Cup final, where they lost to the Montreal Canadians. At the trade deadline in 1996 he was traded to the St. Louis Blues for several other players and two draft picks. Wayne Gretzky would only be a Blue for the remainder of the 1996-97 season as he then signed on with the New York Rangers as an unrestricted free agent and retired from the game he loves in 1999. Wayne had been involved in hockey since his retirement in many ways most notably as a minority owner with the Phoenix Coyotes. In 2005, Gretzky made his return to the National Hockey League, not as a player but as head coach of the Coyotes.

Off the ice Gretzky life has been equally memorable. Gretzky met the blond and leggy American actress Janet Jones in 1984 when he was a judge on Dance Fever and she was a dancer on the show. They ran into each other again at a Los Angeles Lakers game in 1987 and became inseparable. Janet was four months pregnant with daughter Paulina when they married on July 17, 1988. Their wedding which was dubbed “The Royal Wedding” was broadcast live throughout Canada from Edmonton’s St. Joseph’s Basilica, ironically though neither Gretzky nor Jones is Roman Catholic. Members of the Fire Department even acted as guards at the church steps. The cost of the event was reportedly over $1 million. Gretzky obtained American citizenship after the wedding, and has since resided in the United States. He and his wife have since had four other children: Ty Robert (born July 9, 1990), Trevor Douglas (born September 14, 1992), Tristan Wayne (born August 2, 2000), and Emma Marie (born March 28, 2003).

Wayne Gretzky has been nicknamed, “The Great One” and is considered the greatest hockey player of all time.

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