This person died in 2018 at age 88. When he graduated college in 1951 he had enough skill as a baseball player to earn a tryout with the New York Giants. He earned his PhD in American Studies from Yale in 1957. Beginning in the 1960s he helped create the enormously influential hybrid of fiction techniques into non-fiction known as the New Journalism. He was instantly recognizable as he strolled down Madison Avenue — a tall, slender, blue-eyed, boyish-looking man in his spotless three-piece white bespoke suit. He authored The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test, The Right Stuff, and Bonfire of the Vanities. Today’s dead celebrity is Tom Wolfe Famous & Gravy is created and co-hosted by Amit Kapoor and Michael Osborne. This episode was produced by Jacob Weiss. Sign up for our newsletter at famousandgravy.com for news and updates on the show. Also, enjoy our mobile quiz game at deadoraliveapp.com If you enjoyed this episode, you may also like Episode 41 “Viva Bojangles” (Jerry Jeff Walker) and Episode 23 “Book Rancher” (Larry McMurtry).   Transcript of this episode New York Times Obituary for Tom Wolfe Famous & Gravy official website Famous & Gravy on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn Article by Michael Lewis on Tom Wolfe in Vanity Fair “The Making of Tom Wolfe’s Radical Chic” in Vulture Trailer for ‘The Right Stuff’ movie Trailer for The ‘Bonfire of the Vanities’ movie Tom Wolfe’s guest appearance on The Simpsons HPB.com Dead or Alive Quiz Game Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices