Eric Lax is an American author who has written books on modern medicine, four books on

Woody Allen Heywood Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American filmmaker, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades. Allen has received many List of awards and nominations received by Woody Allen, accolade ...

including a biography, and a personal memoir ''Faith: Interrupted'' about deep religious attachment that he had in his youth and then his loss of Christian faith at a later part of his life.

Biography

Lax was raised in an

Episcopalian Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protes ...

family, the son of an Episcopal priest. He graduated from The Bishop's School in

La Jolla, California La Jolla ( , ) is a hilly, seaside neighborhood in San Diego, California, occupying of curving coastline along the Pacific Ocean. The population reported in the 2010 census was 46,781. The climate is mild, with an average daily temperature o ...

, in 1962 and graduated from Hobart College in 1966 with a major in English. In light of the draft for the

Vietnam war The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

, Lax applied for

conscientious objector A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of conscience or religion. The term has also been extended to objecting to working for the military–indu ...

status. Following graduation, joining the

Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an Independent agency of the U.S. government, independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to communities in partner countries around the world. It was established in Marc ...

gave him a two-year deferment from the draft. In the

he served in Chuuk and the

Caroline Islands The Caroline Islands (or the Carolines) are a widely scattered archipelago of tiny islands in the western Pacific Ocean, to the north of New Guinea. Politically, they are divided between the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) in the cen ...

in the western

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

. After completing his two-year placement, he worked in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, on the Peace Corps staff in a capacity that allowed him to travel to more than 40 countries.William Smith Centennial :: William Smith Leaders : Eric Lax ’66
/ref> He left the Peace Corps in 1970 to pursue writing full-time, and his interest in

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

led to his first book, ''On Being Funny: Woody Allen and Comedy'' in 1975, which was part biography of

and part general treatise on comedy. Lax also interviewed

Groucho Marx Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx (; October 2, 1890 – August 19, 1977) was an American comedian, actor, writer, and singer who performed in films and vaudeville on television, radio, and the stage. He is considered one of America's greatest comed ...

for ''

Life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...

'' during the veteran comedian's 1972 trip to perform in

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

. In 1984, Lax wrote ''Life and Death on 10 West'' about the

bone marrow Bone marrow is a semi-solid biological tissue, tissue found within the Spongy bone, spongy (also known as cancellous) portions of bones. In birds and mammals, bone marrow is the primary site of new blood cell production (or haematopoiesis). It i ...

transplantation ward at the UCLA Medical Center, which was headed at the time by his college classmate Robert Peter Gale. It was recognized by ''

The New York Times Book Review ''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely rea ...

'' as one of the Notable Books of the Year and received an award from the Leukemia Society of America. Lax's books include ''The Mold in Dr. Florey's Coat'', about the development of penicillin; ''Woody Allen: A Biography'' and ''Conversations with Woody Allen'', which comprises 40 years of interviews with Allen. With Ann M. Sperber, he is the co-author of ''Bogart''. In addition to writing his books, Lax has written articles that have appeared in several periodical publications including ''

The Atlantic Monthly ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 ...

'', ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentleman ...

'', the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'', ''

The New York Times Magazine ''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors. The magazi ...

'', '' Vanity Fair'', ''

'', '' The Washington Monthly'' and ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

''. He has worked as a contributing editor of ''

Esquire magazine ''Esquire'' is an American men's magazine. Currently published in the United States by Hearst, it also has more than 20 international editions. Founded in 1933, it flourished during the Great Depression and World War II under the guidance of ...

''. He is a past president of

PEN Center USA PEN Center USA was a branch of PEN International, a literary and human rights organization. It was one of two PEN International Centers in the United States, the other being PEN America in New York City. On March 1, 2018, PEN Center USA unified ...

, is currently a Vice President of

PEN International PEN International (known as International PEN until 2010) is a worldwide professional association, association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association ...

and a member of the board of ''The Los Angeles Review of Books''.

Personal life

In 1982, Lax married Karen Alden Sulzberger, daughter of the late Arthur Sulzberger, publisher of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' and sister of current ''Times'' publisher Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, Jr. in an Episcopal ceremony officiated by Bishop Harold B. Robinson. They have two sonshttps://www.imdb.com/name/nm1404168/ accessed 16 February 2008 and live in

Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. A notable and historic suburb of Los Angeles, it is located just southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Beverly Hil ...

. Lax is lifelong friends with George Elden Packard, whom he met at college.

Bibliography

*(1969) ''The U.S. Overseas: Pinpoints on the Pacific'', Time Life Books, New York, pages 130-131, Library of Congress CC number 69-16543. *(1975) ''On Being Funny: Woody Allen and Comedy'', Charterhouse, New York, . *(1984) ''Life and Death on 10 West'', 267 pp., Times Books, . *(1991) ''Woody Allen: A Biography'', 439 pp., Alfred A. Knopf Inc. (New York). *(1992) ''Woody Allen: A Biography'' 2nd Ed., 439 pp., Vintage Books. *(1996) ''Paul Newman: A Biography'', 192 pp., Turner Publishing, . *(1997) with Ann M. Sperber, ''Bogart'', 676 pp., Morrow, . *(1998) ''Newman: Paul Newman - A Celebration'', Pavilion, . *(2000) ''Woody Allen: A Biography'' 3rd Ed., 439 pp., Da Capo Press, . *(2004) "The Mold in Dr. Florey's Coat: The Story of the Penicillin Miracle", Henry Holt, *(2004) ''The Mold in Dr. Florey's Coat: The Story of the Penicillin Miracle'', 389 pp., Little Brown, . *(2005) "The Mold in Dr. Florey's Coat: The Story of the Penicillin Miracle"', 308 pp.,Owl Books/Henry Holt, *(2007) ''Conversations with Woody Allen: His Films, the Movies, and Moviemaking'', 416 pp., Knopf, . *(2009) ''Conversations with Woody Allen: His Films, the Movies, and Moviemaking. Updated and expanded'', 416 pp., Knopf, *(2010) ''Faith, Interrupted'', Knopf *(2011) "Faith Interrupted", Vintage *(2013) “Radiation: What It Is, What You Need to Know”, with Robert Peter Gale, MD,Ph.D, 274 pp., Knopf *(2013) "Radiation: What It Is, What You Need to Know," 274 pp., Vintage Books *(2017) ''Start to Finish: Woody Allen and the Art of Moviemaking'',368 pp. Knopf, *(2017) "Start to Finish: Woody Allen and the Art of Moviemaking"' 368 pp., Vintage,

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lax, Eric Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American biographers Hobart and William Smith Colleges alumni Sulzberger family The Bishop's School alumni