Dylan Thomas

Welsh writer of poetry, short stories, movie scenarios and radio scripts, immensely talented. A popular writer, his poetry and verse contains some of the most stirring and passionate words of contemporary literature.

His famous works include the poems "Do not go gentle into that good night" and "And death shall have no dominion", as well as the "play for voices" Under Milk Wood.

He and his wife were known for their drinking and brawling. Toward the end, his drinking went totally out of control. Attractive, even lovable when sober, he became crude and unmanageable when drunk, using offensive language and making lewd advances toward strange women.

A poetry reading at City College two days after Thomas's 39th birthday was his final public appearance. He developed delirium tremens and a doctor was summoned to his hotel. The doctor gave the raving man a morphine injection and he went into a coma. He was admitted to the hospital on 5 November at 1:58 AM. His wife, Caitlin, flew over in time to see him alive but "possessed of 10,000 raving demons." He died on 9 November 1953, about 1:00 PM while being bathed by a nurse in New York City. He was 39. The autopsy cited bronchial-pneumonia, with fluid on the brain as the primary cause and aided by a fatty liver. His death struck many of his readers as a literary tragedy.