03. E. L. Doctorow, Erica Jong, and Galen Williams

By 1978, when Poets & Writers held its first benefit party, the organization had won the support of writers such as E. L. Doctorow and Erica Jong, pictured here with Galen Williams. As reported in Publishers Weekly, the event raised $20,000 toward a challenge grant from the National Endowment for the Arts—the first ever given to a literary organization.