Richard Warrington Baldwin Lewis (November 1, 1917 - June 13, 2002) was an American literary scholar and critic. He gained a wider reputation when he won a 1976 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography, the first National Book Critics Circle Award for nonfiction, and a Bancroft Prize for his biography of Edith Wharton. The New York Times called the book "a beautifully wrought, rounded portrait of the whole woman, including the part of her that remained in shade during her life" and said that the "expansive, elegant biography ... can stand as literature, if nothing else."
He was the Neil Gray Professor of English and American Studies at Yale University, where he taught from 1959 until his retirement in 1988; from 1966 to 1972, he was master of Yale's Calhoun College. From 1954 to 1959 he taught at Rutgers–Newark. In 1988 Lewis received a Litt.D. from Bates College. A member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, Lewis received its Gold Medal for Biography in 2000.
Lewis is generally considered one of the founders of the academic field of American Studies. His interests ranged from criticism of American and European writers to biography and artistic criticism. He is associated with John William Ward.
Lewis' career as critic involved him in the lives of many influential American and European thinkers and writers.
Lewis received his doctoral degree from the University of Chicago, where he studied under Norman Maclean, author of the novel A River Runs Through It and Other Stories. He and his wife and sometime co-author Nancy later became close friends with Southern writer Robert Penn Warren.
Lewis' first major work The American Adam: Innocence, Tragedy, and Tradition in the Nineteenth Century (1955) explored De Crèvecoeur's idea of the American as a "new man" - an innocent Adam in a bright new world dissociating himself from the historic past. Lewis portrayed this preoccupation as a pervasive, transforming ingredient of the American mind that shaped the consciousness of lesser thinkers as fully as it shaped the giants of the age. The book traces the Adamic theme in the writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Hawthorne, Herman Melville, Henry James and others, and in his epilogue Lewis exposes its continuing spirit in the works of F. Scott Fitzgerald, William Faulkner, Ralph Ellison, J. D. Salinger, and Saul Bellow.
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Some of their strengths
Richard Lewis has many admirable traits.
Based on spiritual traditions from around the world, they are someone who can be described as Communicative, Generous, Creative, Intense, Passionate, Charming, and Energetic.
Intense and Passionate
According to Mysticism’s Astrology tradition, Richard Lewis is someone who is an intense, passionate, and intuitive person who is fiercely independent, authentic and direct when engaging with others. A person who defines themself by their friends and what groups they belong to.
Warm and Caring
Based on Daoism’s Ba-Zi or ‘Chinese Zodiac’ tradition, people who know Richard Lewis well know them as someone who can be warm, caring, and compassionate, like a lamp or torch.
Optimistic and Frank
According to Hinduism’s Jyotisha or ‘Vedic Astrology’ tradition, many would also describe Richard Lewis as someone who is optimistic, principled, adventurous, and direct.
A person who isn't shy about expressing their opinions, loves competition, loves learning things themself, who is known for being inventive and original, and who loves being surrounded by friends and loved ones.
Charismatic and Playful
Based on the Mayan Tzolk’in or ‘Mayan Astrology’ tradition, Richard Lewis is someone who is used to being the center of attention, and who has a playful approach to dealing with life.
They are also someone who is calm, comforting, and stable, and who loves stability and being a good friend and loyal partner.
Mysterious and Methodical
According to Judaism’s Kabbalah tradition, Richard Lewis tends to be someone who can come across as mysterious and intense, who can be a complex thinker who is methodical and intuitive, and who can overcome challenges that most others would not be able to.
Some of Richard Lewis's challenges
While Richard Lewis has many strengths, nobody is perfect. They also have some challenging traits they need to manage.
For example, Richard Lewis can be Stubborn, Complicated, Brusque, Hypocritical, Self-centered, Suspicious, and Pushy.
Complicated and Brusque
One of Richard Lewis's key challenges is that they are someone who can be complicated and gruff with others.
Richard Lewis must also exercise caution as they can have difficulty dealing with responsibility, authority, or criticism.
Pushy and Restless
Richard Lewis is someone who can be arrogant and bossy, who can have difficulty concentrating and focusing, be unable to separate emotions from business decisions, and who can engage in excessive spending in support of an expensive lifestyle and habits.
Sensitive and Aggressive
Finally, Richard Lewis also can be too "touchy-feely", have a hard time expressing feelings, be too aggressive and headstrong, and be too unforgiving of others' mistakes.
