Nelson Algren is best known for his novel “The Man with the Golden Arm” which was turned into the 1955 film on drug addiction starring Frank Sinatra and Kim Novak, and “Walk on the Wild Side,” the title Lou Reed used for his song, “Take a Walk on the Wild Side.”
Algren lived in Chicago but loved the Indiana Dunes so much he used the first real money he ever earned to buy a small cabin on the shores of the Miller Lagoon. He rode the South Shore Railroad between Chicago and Miller throughout the 1950’s and 1960’s, bringing friends and lovers such as Simone de Beauvoir, considered the founder of the modern feminist movement, to the dunes.
The Nelson Algren Museum of Miller Beach, open by appointment only, houses the desk, typewriter and chair Algren used to write “The Man with the Golden Arm” as well as 24 photographs of his life by renowned photographer Art Shay. The Museum maintains significant letters and documents from his life. A tour of the museum include a street-side view of his cabin.
Please call or email to arrange a time to tour the Museum.
(773) 914-2574
541 S. Lake Street, Miller Beach IN
