Henry Miller (specifically Henry Valentine Miller); born December 16, 1891, New York; died June 8, 1980, in Los Angeles. After dropping out of school, Miller earned his living working odd jobs and wrote his first, none too successful works on the side.
From 1930 to 1940, he lived in Paris, where he sought out a more unconventional artistic milieu. Henry Miller lived the Bohemian life in Paris, developing his own style of writing and published a series of erotic novels which were semi-autobiographical, including "Tropic of Cancer" in 1934, "Black Spring" in 1936, and "Tropic of Capricorn" in 1939.
Henry Miller returned to the United States in 1940. Further erotic novels followed, such as his trilogy "Sexus" (1949), "Plexus" (1953), and "Nexus" (1960). On account of Miller's openness on love and sexuality, his works were classified as pornographic and subsequently banned. They were therefore printed illegally and contributed to his high profile, which made him one of the pioneers of sexual emancipation in literature.
Besides his erotic works, Henry Miller also wrote travel books, including "The Air-conditioned Nightmare" (1945-47) and his autobiography "Big Sur and the Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch" (1957). He lived in Big Sur, California until his death.