Max von der Grün (German: [maks fɔn dɐ̯ ɡʁyːn] ; 25 May 1926 – 7 April 2005) was a German novelist. Max von der Grün was born in Sankt Georgen (Bayreuth) and grew up in Mitterteich. After a clerical apprenticeship, he became a paratrooper during World War II in 1944. He was captured by U.S. forces near Quimper (France) and became a prisoner of war, spending three years in prison camps in Scotland, Louisiana, Texas, and New Mexico. After his release, he worked as a bricklayer, and from 1951 to 1963 in the Zeche Königsborn mine near Unna. He started writing in 1955, initially poetry, later focusing on worker-class themes. He was a founding member of the Dortmunder Gruppe 61, and a member of the International PEN. Von der Grün died in Dortmund. Source: Wikipedia (en)