The Lost Generation was a group of American writers who came of age during World War I and went on to create literary careers in the 1920s. Fitzgerald, John Dos Passos, E.E. Cummings, Archibald MacLeish, Hart Crane, and many other authors who made Paris their creative home in the 1920s. They are often called the "celebrated generation" because of their fame at the time they were writing about America's involvement in World War I. Dos Passos was born in 1876 into a wealthy family in Massachusetts. He began publishing articles at an early age, and after graduating from Harvard University, he traveled Europe for a year before returning to write more articles. In 1902, he moved to New York City where he became involved with left-wing politics and journalism. Two years later, he met F. Scott Fitzgerald at a party and became one of his most important critics. In 1906, he married well-to-do society woman Eleanor Blount, and together they had three children. In 1919, after several unsuccessful attempts, Dos Passes finally gained recognition when his novel U.S.A. was published to great acclaim. The following year, he traveled to Russia as a correspondent for several newspapers including the New York Herald Tribune and the London Daily Express. Upon his return to America, he wrote two more books about his experiences in Russia. In 1924, after divorcing his first wife, Dos Passes married novelist Josephine Herbst.