American linguist Arika Okrent.

Arika Okrent

Japanese diarist and poet Sei Shōnagon.

Sei Shonagon

(c. 966 - c. 1025)

Black power leader H. Rap Brown.

H. Rap Brown

French man of letters Denis Diderot.

Denis Diderot

(1713 - 1784)

Lewis Lapham at his desk

Lewis H. Lapham

(1935 - 2024)

Portrait of young Arthur Schopenhauer wearing a brown suit and a cravat.

Arthur Schopenhauer

(1788 - 1860)

American poet, journalist, and essayist Walt Whitman.

Walt Whitman

(1819 - 1892)

Former chairman of the FCC Newton Minow.

Newton Minow

Cherokee leader and newspaper editor Elias Boudinot.

Elias Boudinot

(c. 1803 - 1839)

Portrait of Francis Bacon in sixteenth-century armor.

Francis Bacon

(1561 - 1626)

St. Benedict

Saint Benedict

(c. 480 - c. 547)

John Cheever

(1912 - 1982)

Painting of François Rabelais.

François Rabelais

(1494 - 1553)

Portrait bust of Greek dramatist Aeschylus.

Aeschylus

(c. 525 BC - 456 BC)

German poet and playwright Bertolt Brecht.

Bertolt Brecht

(1898 - 1956)

Black and white photograph of a young H.G. Wells with a mustache.

H.G. Wells

(1866 - 1946)

Color engraving of Italian poet, scholar, and humanist Petrarch.

Petrarch

(1304 - 1374)

American newspaper commentator and author Walter Lippmann.

Walter Lippmann

(1889 - 1974)

Toni Morrison

(1931 - 2019)

Black and white photograph of American poet Marianne Moore.

Marianne Moore

(1887 - 1972)

Painting of Benjamin Franklin reading a batch of papers next to a classical bust.

Benjamin Franklin

(1706 - 1790)

Depiction of Greek philosopher Plato.

Plato

(c. 427 BC - c. 347 BC)

Arthur Koestler

(1905 - 1983)

American novelist Madeline Miller.

Madeline Miller

Black and white image of Greek biographer and writer Plutarch.

Plutarch

(46 - c. 120)

Chinese statesman Li Si.

Li Si

(c. 280 BC - c. 208 BC)

Color portrait of German theologian and reformer Martin Luther.

Martin Luther

(1483 - 1546)

Black and white photograph of German-language writer Franz Kafka.

Franz Kafka

(1883 - 1924)

Fourth President of the United States James Madison.

James Madison

(1751 - 1836)

Dorothy Parker working at her typewriter.

Dorothy Parker

(1893 - 1967)

Image of medieval traveler Sir John Mandeville.

John Mandeville

(c. 1300 - 1371)

James Albert Ukawsaw Gronniosaw

(c. 1705 - 1775)

Black and white photograph of German writer Hermann Hesse.

Hermann Hesse

(1877 - 1962)

Portrait of English Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley.

Percy Bysshe Shelley

(1792 - 1822)

Engraving of a bearded man seated with a crutch and writing at a desk

Epictetus

(c. 55 - c. 135)

Belgian Symbolist poet, playwright, and essayist Maurice Maeterlinck.

Maurice Maeterlinck

(1862 - 1949)

Portrait of Swiss-born philosopher, writer, and political theorist Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

(1712 - 1778)

Linguist, lexicographer, columnist, and editor Ben Zimmer.

Ben Zimmer

Engraving of a bust of Lucretius.

Lucretius

(c. 95 BC - c. 50 BC)

Portrait of Fyodor Dostoevsky

Fyodor Dostoevsky

(1821 - 1881)

Engraving of Roman poet Horace.

Horace

(65 BC - 8 BC)

American feminist, activist, and editor Gloria Steinem.

Gloria Steinem

Color photograph of Oliver Sacks with a white beard and glasses.

Oliver Sacks

(1933 - 2015)

Russian author Viktor Pelevin.

Viktor Pelevin

Black and white photograph of E. B. White sitting at his typewriter with his dachshund.

E.B. White

(1899 - 1985)

Black and white photograph of Friedrich Nietzsche with a huge mustache.

Friedrich Nietzsche

(1844 - 1900)

American author and educator Helen Keller.

Helen Keller

(1880 - 1968)

Historian and novelist Philipp Blom.

Philipp Blom

Scottish born doctor and writer Alexander Hamilton.

Dr. Alexander Hamilton

(1712 - 1756)

Painting of Thomas Hobbes

Thomas Hobbes

(1588 - 1679)

Political consultant and media advisor Mandy Grunwald.

Mandy Grunwald

André Le Chapelain

(1174 - 1238)

Printer and publisher Aldus Manutius the Elder.

Aldus Manutius the Elder

(1449 - 1515)

American black militant Eldridge Cleaver.

Eldridge Cleaver

(1935 - 1998)

English novelist, essayist, and critic George Orwell.

George Orwell

(1903 - 1950)

Photograph of American literary critic George Steiner.

George Steiner

(1929 - 2020)

American writer, computer scientist, and composer Jaron Lanier.

Jaron Lanier

Ambrose Bierce

Ambrose Bierce

(1842 - c. 1914)

American writer Nicholson Baker.

Nicholson Baker

Apollinaris the Younger

(c. 310 - c. 390)

Polish American writer and academic Eva Hoffman.

Eva Hoffman

Photograph of British writer and journalist Simon Winchester.

Simon Winchester

American novelist Tim O’Brien.

Tim O’Brien

American author Gay Talese.

Gay Talese

English writer and essayist William Hazlitt.

William Hazlitt

(1778 - 1830)

Italian Franciscan friar and historian Salimbene Di Adam.

Salimbene di Adam

(1221 - c. 1290)

Joan Didion

(1934 - 2021)

William Lightfoot Visscher

(1842 - 1924)

Photograph of Jorge Luis Borges

Jorge Luis Borges

(1899 - 1986)

Soldier and writer Louis de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon.

Louis de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon

(1675 - 1755)

German Nazi leader Martin Bormann.

Martin Bormann

(1900 - 1945)

British writer Bruce Chatwin.

Bruce Chatwin

(1940 - 1989)

Pope Clement V.

Pope Clement V

(c. 1260 - 1314)

Black and white photo of Lenny Bruce being frisked by an officer

Lenny Bruce

(1925 - 1966)

Sepia toned photograph of Lewis Carroll in a suit, reading a book

Lewis Carroll

(1832 - 1898)

Greek geographer and historian Strabo.

Strabo

(c. 64 BC - c. 25)

Flann O'Brien in an overcoat standing next to a Dublin Diversion sign

Flann O’Brien

(1911 - 1966)

Exiled South African writer Breyten Breytenbach.

Breyten Breytenbach

Black and white photograph of American author Edith Wharton.

Edith Wharton

(1862 - 1937)

Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, and writer Marcus Tullius Cicero.

Marcus Tullius Cicero

(106 BC - 43 BC)

Bishop, polemicist, and historian Eusebius.

Eusebius

(c. 260 - c. 339)

Black and white photograph of a young Marshall McLuhan with a think mustache.

Marshall McLuhan

(1911 - 1980)

Oil painting portrair Michel de Montaigne in red robes and white collar

Michel de Montaigne

(1533 - 1592)

Photograph of Vladimir Nabokov

Vladimir Nabokov

(1899 - 1977)

Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau

(1817 - 1862)