Description
Oscar Lewis was an author who wrote about the American West. Born in 1893 in San Francisco, he attended UC Berkeley but quit school in 1912 to become a professional writer. Lewis emerged as an author and historian in the 1930s, and his books were among the first to define the West in the context of history. "The Big Four," Lewis’s best-known book, published in 1938, told how four robber barons built the first transcontinental railroad. In this interview, he discusses his youth in Sonoma County and Berkeley; his stories and articles for "The Smart Set" and other well-known magazines of the 1920s; his years as secretary of the Book Club of California; and the writers, bibliographers, fine printers, and artists he has known.