I think more than writers the major influences on me have been European movies jazz and Abstract Expressionism.
Abstract Expressionism - the first American movement to have a worldwide influence - was remarkably short-lived: It heated up after World War II and was all but done for by 1960 (although visit any art school today and you'll find a would-be Willem de Kooning).
Pell Grants are and have been critically important tools in making higher education a possibility for lower- and middle-income students.