Thomas Sigismund Stribling

Thomas Sigismund Stribling (March 4, 1881 – July 8, 1965) was an American writer. Although he passed the bar and practiced law for a few years, he quickly began to focus on writing. First known for adventure stories published in pulp fiction magazines, he enlarged his reach with novels of social satire set in Middle Tennessee and other parts of the South. His best-known work is the Vaiden trilogy, set in Florence, Alabama. The first volume is The Forge (1931). He won the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel in 1933 for the second novel of this series, The Store. The last, set in the 1920s, is The Unfinished Cathedral (1934). Both the second and third novels were chosen as selections by the Literary Guild.

His popularity in the 1920s and 1930s also inspired the adaptation of his works for other mediums. Three of his novels were adapted: Birthright was adapted twice as film, in 1924 (now lost) and 1939 (only part survives). Teeftallow and Fobombo were each adapted as plays under other titles (see Adaptations below) and produced on Broadway in New York City in 1928 and 1932, respectively.