text: a. scott berg andrew scott berg ( born december 4 , 1949 ) is a pulitzer prize - winning american biographer . after graduating from princeton university in 1971 , berg expanded his senior thesis on editor maxwell perkins into a full - length biography , max perkins : editor of genius ( 1978 ) , which won a national book award . his second book goldwyn : a biography was published in 1989 . berg 's third book lindbergh , a highly anticipated biography of aviator charles lindbergh was published in 1998 , becoming a new york times best seller , and winning the 1999 pulitzer prize for biography or autobiography . in 2003 berg published kate remembered , a biography - cum - memoir about his friendship with actress katharine hepburn that received mixed reviews . his book wilson , a biography of woodrow wilson was published on september 10 , 2013 . berg also wrote the story for making love ( 1982 ) , a controversial film that was the first major studio drama to address the subjects of gay love , closeted marriages , and coming out . he has contributed articles to magazines such as architectural digest and vanity fair . life early life and work berg was born in norwalk , connecticut . the son of barbara ( freedman ) berg and film producer dick berg , berg was raised jewish . when berg was eight , his family relocated to los angeles , california . while a sophomore at palisades charter high school , berg researched the author f. scott fitzgerald ( a favorite of barbara 's , who named her son in part after fitzgerald ) for a report and " developed a mania " for his writing . berg read all of fitzgerald 's works and later recalled : " it was the first time i saw the fusion of an artist and his life , a tragic and romantic life . " scott applied to princeton university , primarily because it was fitzgerald 's alma mater , and was accepted in 1967 . at princeton , berg performed in the princeton triangle club theater troupe and considered dropping out to become an actor , though he was convinced by english professor carlos baker , a well - regarded biographer of ernest hemingway , to " graduate , so at least you 'll be an actor with a college degree " . berg studied under baker , who offered him " constant encouragement and counsel " on his senior thesis , which was a study of editor maxwell perkins 's career between 1919 and 1929 . after graduating from princeton in 1971 , berg decided to expand the thesis into a full - length biography , thinking it would take around nine months . he also formulated a career plan at this time , and later recalled : " i did tell myself early on : i think it would be interesting , perhaps , to spend a career writing a half - dozen biographies of twentieth - century american cultural figures — each one , as i often use as my metaphor , a different wedge of the great apple pie . " the perkins biography , max perkins : editor of genius , took longer than berg anticipated and was eventually published in 1978 . it won a 1980 national book award in biography . in 1982 , berg was approached by samuel goldwyn , jr. to write a biography of his father , the independent film producer samuel goldwyn . berg initially turned the project down , telling goldwyn that " he was interested in american culture , not hollywood , " but changed his mind after visiting goldwyn 's archives and discovering gin rummy , menus from goldwyn 's dinner parties , and " all the quotidian minutiae that are a biographer 's dream " . he won a 1982 guggenheim fellowship , which helped finance his work on the biography . the same year , berg wrote the story for making love , a controversial film that was the first major studio drama to address the subjects of homosexual love , closeted marriages , and coming out . he also narrated directed by william wyler , a 1986 documentary about the filmmaker william wyler for which berg interviewed wyler , bette davis , audrey hepburn , laurence olivier , and barbra streisand , among others . in 1989 , berg published goldwyn : a biography , his second biography . lindbergh after completing goldwyn in 1989 , berg began the search for his next subject , who he wanted to be " another great american cultural figure but — because i had written about perkins and goldwyn — not somebody from the worlds of publishing or film " . after briefly considering tennessee williams , berg decided to research the aviator charles lindbergh , attracted by what he described as " the dramatic possibilities of the story of the great hero who became a great victim and a great villain " . berg convinced lindbergh 's widow , anne morrow lindbergh , to grant him unprecedented access to the man 's archives , which he was surprised to find totaled " 1 , 300 boxes , or several million papers " . the biography , lindbergh , was highly anticipated ; prior to its publication , the book 's film rights were bought , sight unseen , by steven spielberg , who planned to direct a movie of it . published in 1998 , lindbergh sold about 250 , 000 copies in hardcover , and won the pulitzer prize for biography or autobiography . berg was noted for his exhaustive research , as well as his sympathetic , but by no means uncritical , approach to lindbergh , whose alleged anti - semitism he addressed in a straightforward , unblinking manner . recent work from 1998 to 2000 , berg wrote kate remembered , a biography - cum - memoir detailing his 20 - year friendship with the hollywood actress katharine hepburn . the book was published in 2003 , only 12 days after hepburn 's death . it spent 11 weeks on the new york times nonfiction best seller list , but received uneasy critical response . in the new york times , robert gottlieb called it an " odd and unsettling book [ that leaves ] a sense of exploitation " , and gossip columnist liz smith , a friend of hepburn 's , called berg " vain and narcissistic " , and declared the book " [ s ] elf - promoting fakery .... hepburn would have despised it and his betrayal of her friendship . " berg responded in a written statement , saying that he was " truly shocked at liz smith 's professional behaviour — or , more accurately , her lack thereof " in " her personal assault on my reputation , one that stops just short of character assassination " . berg served on princeton university 's board of trustees from 1999 to 2003 . in 2000 , he began researching a biography of woodrow wilson , of whom berg says , " i have an image of him in my mind that is unlike any picture i have seen anywhere else , based on material at princeton and 35 years of researching and thinking about him " . in march 2010 he became involved in a film production project , transforming the 1960s television program 77 sunset strip into a feature film , which delayed the wilson biography a further 18 months . wilson was published on september 10 , 2013 . personal life berg lives with his friend kevin mccormick , a film producer , in los angeles . his brothers are jeff berg , former ceo of international creative management , a leading hollywood talent and literary agency ; and music producer and musician tony berg . his youngest brother rick is a partner and manager at the production company code entertainment . his niece is z berg , a musician of the like and .