John Kennedy Toole

John Kennedy Toole was an American novelist from New Orleans, Louisiana, whose posthumously published novel, A Confederacy of Dunces, won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1981; he also wrote The Neon Bible. Although several people in the literary world felt his writing skills were praiseworthy, Toole's novels were rejected during his lifetime. Due in part to these failures, he suffered from paranoia and depression, dying by suicide at the age of 31.

17 December 1937

Born on the same birth date (17 December 1937): Art Neville • Brian Hayes (broadcaster) • Calvin Waller • Kerry Packer

Born on the same birth day (17 December): Alexander Agassiz • Carlo M. Croce • Chelsea Manning • Craig Kielburger • Edward Meneeley • Emperor Go-Uda • Erskine Caldwell • Frank Winterstein • Joseph Henry • Konstadinos Gatsioudis • Lloyd Perrett • Loren Murchison • María Elena Velasco • Pope Francis • Prince Joachim of Prussia • Ray Noble • Simon Bates • Thomas Tickell • Vilhelm Petersen (painter) • William Lyon Mackenzie King • Éric Bédard

Born in the same month (December 1937): Arne Næss Jr. • Art Neville • Brian Hayes (broadcaster) • Eduard Uspensky • Edward Ruscha • Jim Harrison • Ken Whitmore • Maung Aye • Max Baer Jr. • Thad Cochran