Alan Cheuse

Alan Cheuse

Alan Cheuse in 2007.
Born (1940-01-23)January 23, 1940
Perth Amboy, New Jersey,
United States
Died July 31, 2015(2015-07-31) (aged 75)
San Jose, California,
United States
Occupation novelist, columnist, short story writer, essayist, professor
Nationality American
Education Rutgers University

Alan Stuart Cheuse (January 23, 1940 – July 31, 2015) was an American writer and critic.

Life and career

Born in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, Cheuse grew up in a Jewish family, the son of a Russian immigrant father and a mother of Russian and Romanian descent.[1] He graduated from Perth Amboy High School in 1957 and Rutgers University in 1961. After traveling abroad and working for several years at writing and editing jobs, he returned to Rutgers to study for a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature, which he was awarded in 1974. He wrote a thesis on the life and work of the Cuban novelist Alejo Carpentier. He taught literature at Bennington College for nearly a decade and then took posts at Sewanee: The University of the South, the University of Virginia, and the University of Michigan before joining the faculty at George Mason University in the M.F.A. program, teaching fiction. For over 25 years, he taught summers at the Community of Writers at Squaw Valley and also served on its Board of Directors.

In the late 1970s he began publishing short fiction, beginning with a story in The New Yorker, followed with articles for Ploughshares,[2] The Antioch Review, Prairie Schooner, and New Letters. He published his first novel, a biographical historical work about John Reed and Louise Bryant in 1982. Other works of fiction and nonfiction followed.

He was a regular book reviewer for the NPR radio program All Things Considered. In 1999, he also helped to found Fall for the Book, a nonprofit literary festival.

Cheuse was involved in a serious car crash on July 14, 2015 on California State Route 17 while driving from Olympic Valley to Santa Cruz, California. He was reported to be in a coma on July 20, 2015 with injuries including fractured ribs, cervical vertebrae, and an acute subdural hematoma.[3] He died on July 31, 2015 from his injuries at the age of 75.[4]

Alan Cheuse's papers reside at the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library at the University of Virginia.

Works

Edited works

References

  1. ↑ Neila C. Seshachari, "The light on Alan Cheuse: A Dialogue.", Weber Studies, Fall 1990.
  2. ↑ "Read By Author". pshares.org. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
  3. ↑ Carolyn Kellogg, "NPR book reviewer Alan Cheuse in a coma after car accident in California", Los Angeles Times, 20 July 2015.
  4. ↑ Colin Dwyer, "Alan Cheuse, Novelist And Longtime NPR Contributor, Dies At 75", NPR News, 31 July 2015.

External links

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