Michael Lewis
Age: 50
Occupation: Author
Previous TIME 100 Appearances: 0
Lewis has authored an impressive array of nonfiction smashes, from Liar's Poker (1989), about Wall Street in the 1980s, to Moneyball (2003), about the growing importance of statistical analysis in baseball, to this year's The Big Short, a look at the current financial crisis from the point of view of those who saw it coming. But it was one of his lesser-known works, The Blind Side (2006), that put Lewis in the spotlight this year. Adapted into a movie, The Blind Side was a surprise commercial smash, tracing the true story of Michael Oher from an impoverished high school lineman to an NFL pro, helped by the tutelage of his adoptive mother Leigh Anne Tuohy (played by Oscar winner Sandra Bullock).