Mary Schmich

Mary Schmich became a regular columnist for the Chicago Tribune in 1992. She grew famous unexpectedly when one of her 1997 columns, a collection of wry advice to college graduates, was e-mailed around the nation identified as an M.I.T. commencement speech by author Kurt Vonnegut. The false attribution was never explained, but the column became an Internet favorite; it was later set to music and released on an album by Australian director Baz Luhrmann.

Extra credit: Schmich also writes Brenda Starr, the daily comic strip originally created by Dale Messick.