Sociologist who studied and wrote extensively about post-WW II American society. His revolutionary 1960 open latter, "Letter to the New Left" help bring the term "New Left" into the popular subconscious.
After completing his doctorate, he went to teach at Columbia University, where he advocated his fellow sociologists to engage with the subjects of the their study rather than remain aloof.
His three books, White Collar (published in 1954), The Power Elite (1956), and The Sociological Imagination (1959) became the inspiration for many political movements.
His first wife, Dorothy Helen, helped to proof and type up his doctoral thesis; he was married twice more after that.
His political theories became known all over the world, and after his death Fidel Castro arranged for a wreath to be put over his grave.