Nelson Algren (born Nelson Ahlgren Abraham; name changed on January 26, 1944) was born on March 28, 1909, in Detroit, Michigan. He attended the University of Illinois in Urbana, Illinois, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in Journalism in 1931. He worked as a Literary Writer for Harper Brothers Publishing in New York City from 1933 to 1943, and had written several novels by the time he was inducted into the U.S. Army during World War II on July 16, 1943. Pvt Algren began active duty to attend basic training on August 6, 1943, and he completed basic training and artillery training together with the 4th Field Artillery Training Regiment at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, in December 1943. He was assigned to Battery B, 758th Field Artillery Battalion, at Camp Maxey, Texas, in December 1943, and served as a clerk and driver with the 758th Field Artillery Battalion from December 1943 to March 1944. His next assignment was with the 460th Medical College Company at Camp Maxey from March to September 1944, followed by service as a litter bearer with the 125th Evacuation Hospital at Camp Maxey from September to December 1944. He then deployed with the 125th Evacuation Hospital to France in December 1944, serving in France and Germany from December 1944 to November 1945. Pvt Algren was honorably discharged from the Army on December 2, 1945. After leaving the Army, Algren returned to his literary career, and died on May 9, 1981. He was buried at Oakland Cemetery in Sag Harbor, New York. He wrote Somebody in Boots in 1935, The Man with the Golden Arm in 1949, A Walk on the Wild Side in 1956, and many short story collections during his lifetime. Several additional works he wrote were published after his death.