Thomas Kennerly Wolfe, Jr., was born in Richmond, Virginia, on March 2, 1931, the son of Thomas Kennerly and Helen (Hughes) Wolfe. He graduated from Washington and Lee University in 1951 and earned a doctorate in American studies at Yale University in 1957. Wolfe married Sheila Berger (the art director of Harper's magazine) in 1978. They have two children, Alexandra and Thomas.
As a journalist, Wolfe made numerous important contributions to American letters. He started in the business at The Springfield Union in Massachusetts before moving on to positions at The Washington Post and The New York Herald Tribune, where he was a features writer. In 1963, Wolfe won recognition for a series of...
