Julie Hayden (1938/39 – September 14, 1981) was an American short story writer and staff member at ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'' magazine. In 1976,

Viking Press Viking Press (formally Viking Penguin, also listed as Viking Books) is an American publishing company owned by Penguin Random House. It was founded in New York City on March 1, 1925, by Harold K. Guinzburg and George S. Oppenheimer and then acqu ...

published her only collection of short stories, ''The Lists of the Past''. ''Day-Old Baby Rats'' is one of her famous stories. In 2010, it was read by writer

Lorrie Moore Lorrie Moore (born Marie Lorena Moore; January 13, 1957) is an American writer, critic, and essayist. She is best known for her short stories, some of which have won major awards. Since 1984, she has also taught creative writing. Biography Mar ...

on ''The New Yorker'' podcast with fiction editor Deborah Treisman.http://www.wnyc.org/story/lorrie-moore-reads-julie-hayden/, '' The New Yorker: Fiction'' Podcast, accessed February 21, 2016. Hayden's story collection was selected by bestselling author

Cheryl Strayed Cheryl Strayed (; née Nyland; born September 17, 1968) is an American writer and podcast host. She has written four books: the novel ''Torch'' (2006) and the nonfiction books '' Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail'' (2012), '' Ti ...

for republication with Pharos Editions out of

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

and was published in May 2014.

Biography

Hayden was born in the village of

Larchmont Larchmont is a village located within the Town of Mamaroneck in Westchester County, New York. Larchmont is a suburb of New York City, located approximately northeast of Midtown Manhattan. The population of the village is 6,453 as of the W ...

, 18 miles from

Midtown Manhattan Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan, serving as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Building, the ...

. She was the daughter of

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

-winning author and poet

Phyllis McGinley Phyllis McGinley (March 21, 1905 – February 22, 1978) was an American author of children's books and poetry. Her poetry was in the style of light verse, specializing in humor, satiric tone and the positive aspects of suburban life. She won a Pu ...

(1905–1978) and her husband, Charles L. Hayden, a telephone company worker and jazz pianist, who died in 1972. The couple had one other daughter, Patricia. Hayden was educated at Convent of the Sacred Heart, a private girls' school in

Greenwich, Connecticut Greenwich ( ) is a New England town, town in southwestern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 63,518. It is the largest town on Gold Coast (Connecticut), Connectic ...

, and at

Radcliffe College Radcliffe College was a Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that was founded in 1879. In 1999, it was fully incorporated into Harvard Colle ...

, from which she graduated cum laude in 1961 with a bachelor's degree in English. In 1966, she joined the staff of ''The New Yorker'' and worked there as the newsbreak editor for 15 years, until her death. During this time, she published ten short stories in the magazine (republished in ''The Lists of the Past''). Shortly after the publication of her collection in 1976, a breast cancer diagnosis and rapid decline into ill health and advancing alcoholism may have prevented significant further writing. Hayden was 42 years old when she died of cancer at the

Columbia–Presbyterian Medical Center Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC) is the academic medical center of Columbia University and the largest campus of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. The center's academic wing consists of Columbia's colleges and schools of Physician ...

. ''The New Yorker'' issue dated the day of her death—September 14, 1981—contained her last piece, a profile on the gardens at the Church of St. Luke in the Fields, where her memorial was held.

Bibliography

Fiction

* ''The Lists of the Past'' (1976)

Short stories

All stories published in ''The New Yorker'' except as noted. * "Walking with Charlie" (November 7, 1970) * "A Touch of Nature" (August 21, 1971) * "Day-Old Baby Rats" (January 15, 1972) * "In the Words Of" (March 25, 1972) * "The Stories of the House" (March 10, 1975) * "Eighteen Down" (March 17, 1975) * "Gardening for Pleasure" (March 31, 1975) * "Passengers" (April 7, 1975) * "Shut-Eye Night Ride" (April 28, 1975) * "Under the Weather" (May 5, 1975) * "Wood", ''The Lists of the Past'' (1976) * "Visitors", ''The Lists of the Past'' (1976)

Sources

*S. Kirk Walsh interviews Cheryl Strayed
New Life for the Fiction of Julie Hayden.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hayden, Julie The New Yorker editors People from Larchmont, New York Radcliffe College alumni 1930s births 1981 deaths American women non-fiction writers American women magazine editors 20th-century American women 20th-century American people