William Maxwell Boyhood Home

William Maxwell (1908-2000), author and editor, lived in this home from 1910-1920. He often returned to this home and Lincoln in his novels and short stories. His Midwestern childhood, particularly his mother’s death in the Spanish influenza epidemic of 1918, influenced much of his writing. He graduated from the University of Illinois, Urbana, and served as fiction editor for The New Yorker from 1936-1976. He wrote 14 works of fiction and memoir and his novel, So Long, See You Tomorrow, won the American Book Award in 1980. His name is etched on the frieze of the Illinois State Library.