Jerzy Kosinski

Jerzy Kosinski was a Polish-born American writer who wrote primarily in English and twice served as president of the American chapter of PEN. Born in Poland to Jewish parents, he and his family survived World War II with help from Polish villagers who were their neighbors. He is best known for the novel Being There, about a simple gardener whose misunderstood remarks make him a public figure, and for The Painted Bird, which was adapted as a film in 2019. He died in 1991.