Conrad Richter was born in Pennsylvania, the son, grandson, nephew, and great-nephew of clergymen. He was intended for the ministry, but at thirteen he declines a scholarship and left preperatory school for high school, from which he graduated at fifteen. After graduation, he went to work. His family on his mother's side was identified with the early American scene, and from boyhood on he was saturated with tales and the color of Eastern pioneer days. In 1928 he and his small family moved to New Mexico, where his heart and mind were soon caputred by the Southwest. From this time on he devoted himself to fiction.ย The Sea of Grassย andย The Treesย were awarded the gold medal of the Societies of Libraries of New York University in 1942.ย The Townย received the Pulitzer Prize in 1951, andย The Waters of Kronosย won the 1960 National Book Award for fiction. His other novels includedย The Fieldsย (1946),ย The Ladyย (1957),ย A Simple Honorable Manย (1962),ย The Grandfathersย (1964),ย A Country of Strangersย (1966; a companion toย The Light in the Forest), andย The Aristocrat, published just before his death in 1968.