Mehta, Ved, 1934-

Ved Mehta, Indian-American author of novels, family biographies, and essays, was born in 1934 in Lahore (then an Indian city, now part of Pakistan). Blind since childhood, he attended boarding schools in India and in the United States. He continued his education at Pomona College and Harvard University, eventually becoming an American citizen. Among his many writings are A Portrait of India (1970), the series of family biographies Continents of Exile (1972-1993), and the collected essays Fly and the Fly-Bottle (1966) and A Ved Mehta Reader: The Craft of the Essay (1998). He was a staff writer at The New Yorker from 1961 to 1994.

From the guide to the Ved Mehta papers, circa 1924-2005, (Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library)