Louisa May Alcott, an American author best known for her children’s books Little Women, Little Men, and Jo’s Boys, was profoundly influenced by her family, particularly her father. She was the daughter of Bronson Alcott, a well-known teacher, intellectual, and free thinker who advocated abolitionism, women’s rights, and vegetarianism long before they were popular. He was called a man of unparalleled intellect by his friend Ralph Waldo Emerson. Bronson Alcott instilled in his daughter his lofty and spiritual values and in return was idolized by his daughter. Louisa used her father as a model for the impractical yet serenely wise and adored father in Little Women, and with the success of this novel she was able to provide for her family, giving her father the financial security that until then he had never experienced.