Jean Marie Rikhoff (May 28, 1926 – June 19, 2018) was an American author and editor. She is best known for writing two

trilogies A trilogy is a set of three distinct works that are connected and can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, and video games. Three-part works that are considered components of ...

: the Timble Trilogy, made up of ''Dear Ones All'', ''Voyage In, Voyage Out'', and ''Rites of Passage'', and the trilogy of the

North Country North Country may refer to: Places * North Country, Cornwall, England * North Country, the northern third of New Hampshire, U.S. **Great North Woods Region (New Hampshire) *North Country (New York), a region of Upstate New York ** North Country Co ...

, consisting of ''Buttes Landing'', ''One of the Raymonds'', and ''The Sweetwater''. Rikhoff received a

National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...

fellowship, a Eugene Saxton fellowship in creative writing (1958), and two

State University of New York The State University of New York (SUNY ) is a system of Public education, public colleges and universities in the New York (state), State of New York. It is one of the List of largest universities and university networks by enrollment, larges ...

creative writing fellowships."Jean Rikhoff" (page 153-198), in ''Winter KH: The Woman in the Mountain''.

State University of New York Press The State University of New York Press (more commonly referred to as the SUNY Press) is a university press affiliated with the State University of New York system. The press, which was founded in 1966, is located in Albany, New York and publishe ...

, 1989. .Rikhoff J: ''David Smith, I Remember''.

Glens Falls, New York Glens Falls is a City (New York), city in Warren County, New York, Warren County, New York, United States and is the central city of the Glens Falls, New York metropolitan area, Glens Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 14,83 ...

: Loft Press, 1984, back matter. . Two of her books were selected as book of the month alternates and her autobiography was selected Best Memoir of 2011 by the Adirondack Center for Writing.

Life and work

Jean Rikhoff was born in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, Illinois, and grew up in

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

, Indiana. She received her B.A. in English from

Mount Holyoke College Mount Holyoke College is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in South Hadley, Massachusetts, United States. It is the oldest member of the h ...

in 1948 and completed graduate work in English and

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the Methodi ...

. Her dissertation was on ''The Classical Imagery in

Christopher Marlowe Christopher Marlowe ( ; Baptism, baptised 26 February 156430 May 1593), also known as Kit Marlowe, was an English playwright, poet, and translator of the Elizabethan era. Marlowe is among the most famous of the English Renaissance theatre, Eli ...

's Plays''. Rikhoff then left for Europe where she traveled with her first husband and taught for seven years. During this time she wrote her first novel, ''Dear Ones All'', in

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

. Back in the US, she settled with her young daughter in the

Adirondack Mountains The Adirondack Mountains ( ) are a massif of mountains in Northeastern New York which form a circular dome approximately wide and covering about . The region contains more than 100 peaks, including Mount Marcy, which is the highest point in Ne ...

, first living in

Bolton Landing Bolton Landing is a hamlet and census-designated places in the town of Bolton in Warren County, New York. It is located on Lake George in the Adirondack Mountains. It is a common tourist destination and the closest town to the State Park lands ...

. In 1954 she established ''Quixote'', a literary magazine, which she also edited. Rikhoff described the magazine as a financial failure, yet continued to publish until 1966. In ''Quixote'' she wrote an annual report called "Troubles of a Small Magazine". The collected reports were published by

Grosset & Dunlap Grosset & Dunlap is a New York City-based publishing house founded in 1898. The company was purchased by G. P. Putnam's Sons in 1982 and today is part of Penguin Random House through its subsidiary Penguin Group. In recent years, through the P ...

as the ''Quixote Anthology'', along with selected works from the magazine. In the meantime, she had started to work with

literary agent A literary agent is an agent who represents writers and their written works to publishers, theatrical producers, film producers, and film studios, and assists in sale and deal negotiation. Literary agents most often represent novelists, screenwr ...

Barthold Fles Barthold "Bart" Fles (February 7, 1902 – December 19, 1989) was a Dutch-American literary agent, author, translator, editor and publisher. Among his many clients were Elias Canetti, Raymond Loewy, Heinrich Mann, Joseph Roth, Felix Salten, Ign ...

, who was of great support to her creative writing. Rikhoff remarried and spent 20 years on a horse farm in West Hebron, where she wrote some of her best known books. In 1983 she co-founded the Loft Press in

Glens Falls Glens Falls is a city in Warren County, New York, United States and is the central city of the Glens Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 14,830 at the 2020 census. The name was given by Colonel Johannes Glen, the falls ref ...

, for which she served as publisher and editor of the ''Glens Falls Review''. She also worked as an editorial assistant for ''

Gourmet Magazine ''Gourmet'' magazine was a monthly publication of Condé Nast Publications, Condé Nast and the first U.S. magazine devoted to food and wine. The New York Times noted that "''Gourmet'' was to food what ''Vogue (magazine), Vogue'' is to fashion." ...

''. Rikhoff took up teaching again, now at the

Adirondack Community College SUNY Adirondack is a public community college in Queensbury, New York. It serves residents in Warren, Washington and northern Saratoga counties in New York State with over 30 academic programs of study. It was founded in 1961 as Adirondack Com ...

. Among others, she served as faculty advisor to ''Expressions'', the literary magazine of the Adirondack students. At the time of her retirement she was the chair of the English Department at Adirondack College. For her teaching and academic leadership, she won the Adirondack Community College President's Award for Academic Excellence (1990) and State University of New York Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching (1992). Rikhoff died on June 19, 2018.

Bibliography

Books written

* 1961
''Dear Ones All''
* 1961
''Writing About the Frontier:''
''

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, and essayist. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced," with William Fau ...

'' * 1963
''Voyage In, Voyage Out''
* 1966
''Rites of Passage''
* 1968
''Robert E. Lee, Soldier of the South''
* 1973
''Buttes Landing''
(

Book of the Month Book of the Month (founded 1926) is a United States subscription-based e-commerce service that offers a selection of five to seven new hardcover books each month to its members. Books are selected and endorsed by a panel of judges, and members ch ...

alternate) * 1974
''One of the Raymonds''
(Book of the Month alternate) * 1976
''The Sweetwater''
* 1979
''Where Were You in '76?''
ref>de Usabel FE: "Where Were You in '76? (Book Review)." ''

Library Journal ''Library Journal'' is an American trade publication for librarians. It was founded in 1876 by Melvil Dewey. It reports news about the library world, emphasizing public libraries, and offers feature articles about aspects of professional prac ...

'' 103 (19) (1978-11-01): 2262. * 1984
''David Smith, I Remember''
* 2011 - ''Earth, Air, Fire, and Water: A Memoir'' (won Best Memoir 2011 by Adirondack Center for Writing)

Books edited

* 1961
''Quixote Anthology''
* 1986 - ''North Country Anthology'' (co-editor)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rikhoff, Jean 2018 deaths SUNY Adirondack faculty American children's writers American magazine editors Writers from New York (state) Mount Holyoke College alumni People from Glens Falls, New York Writers from Indianapolis People from Bolton Landing, New York Wesleyan University alumni Journalists from Chicago People from Hebron, New York American women children's writers Journalists from New York (state) 1926 births American women non-fiction writers American women magazine editors 21st-century American women