Verlyn Klinkenborg (born 1952 in

Meeker, Colorado Meeker is a statutory town in and the county seat of Rio Blanco County, Colorado, United States, that is the most populous municipality in the county. The town population was 2,374 at the 2020 United States census. Description The town is ...

) is an American non-fiction

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

, academic, and former newspaper editor, known for his writings on

rural America Rural areas in the United States, often referred to as rural America, consist of approximately 97% of the United States' land area. An estimated 60 million people, or one in five residents (17.9% of the total U.S. population), live in rural Ame ...

Early life and education

Klinkenborg was born in

, and raised on a farm 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 ...

. He attended elementary school in

Clarion, Iowa Clarion is a city in and the county seat of Wright County, Iowa, United States. The population was 2,810 at the time of the 2020 census. History Clarion is the birthplace of the four-leaf clover emblem used by the 4-H Clubs of America, conc ...

, until the sixth grade before his family relocated to

Osage, Iowa Osage is a city and the county seat of Mitchell County, Iowa, United States. The population was 3,627 at the time of the 2020 census. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all land. Climate ...

. His family then moved to

Sacramento, California Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat, seat of Sacramento County, California, Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento Rive ...

. Klinkenborg attended the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

before earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature from

Pomona College Pomona College ( ) is a private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Claremont, California. It was established in 1887 by a group of Congregationalism in the United States, Congregationalists ...

. He then earned a Ph.D from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

, also in English literature.

Career

Klinkenborg taught literature and creative writing at

Fordham University Fordham University is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in New York City, United States. Established in 1841, it is named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx in which its origina ...

while living in

The Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

in the early to mid-1980s. He later taught at

St. Olaf College St. Olaf College is a private liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota, United States. It was founded in 1874 by a group of Norwegian-American pastors and farmers led by Pastor Bernt Julius Muus. The college is named after the King and th ...

Bennington College Bennington College is a private liberal arts college in Bennington, Vermont, United States. Founded as a women’s college in 1932,

Sarah Lawrence College Sarah Lawrence College (SLC) is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Yonkers, New York, United States. Founded as a Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in 1926, Sarah Lawrence College has been coeducational ...

Bard College Bard College is a private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. The campus overlooks the Hudson River and Catskill Mountains within the Hudson River Historic District ...

, and

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. In 1991, he received the Lila Wallace–

Reader's Digest ''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his wi ...

Writer's Award and a

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...

fellowship. Klinkenborg's books include ''More Scenes from the Rural Life'' (

Princeton Architectural Press Princeton Architectural Press (now PA Press) is a division of Chronicle Books. Founded by Kevin Lippert in 1981 in Princeton, NJ, PA Press has been a leading publisher of books on architecture, design, and visual culture for over forty years, ...

), ''Making Hay'' and '' The Last Fine Time''. His book ''Timothy; or, Notes of an Abject Reptile'' concerns the

tortoise Tortoises ( ) are reptiles of the family Testudinidae of the order Testudines (Latin for "tortoise"). Like other turtles, tortoises have a shell to protect from predation and other threats. The shell in tortoises is generally hard, and like o ...

which the English eighteenth century

parson-naturalist A parson-naturalist was a cleric (a "parson", strictly defined as a country priest who held the living of a parish, but the term is generally extended to other clergy), who often saw the study of natural science as an extension of his religious wor ...

Gilbert White Gilbert White (18 July 1720 – 26 June 1793) was a "parson-naturalist", a pioneering English naturalist, ecologist, and ornithologist. He is best known for his '' Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne''. Life White was born on 18 Jul ...

inherited from his aunt, as described in his 1789 book ''

The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne ''The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne'', or just ''The Natural History of Selborne'' is a book by English parson-naturalist Gilbert White (1720–1793). It was first published in 1789 by his brother Benjamin. It has been continuou ...

''. In the first half of 2006, Klinkenborg posted a farm and garden blog about The Rural Life, consisting of entries from the daily journal kept by

in Selborne in 1784, and his own complementary daily entries. From 1997 to 2013, he was a member of the editorial board 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 ...

''. Klinkenborg has published articles in ''

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 ...

'', ''

The New York Review of Books ''The New York Review of Books'' (or ''NYREV'' or ''NYRB'') is a semi-monthly magazine with articles on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Published in New York City, it is inspired by the idea that the discussion of ...

'', ''

Harper's Magazine ''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the United States. ''Harper's Magazine'' has ...

'', ''

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 ...

'', ''

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...

'' and '' Mother Jones'' magazines. He has written a series of editorial opinions in ''The New York Times''; these are generally literary meditations on rural farm life. On December 26, 2013, he announced in that column that it was to be the last he would be writing in that space. From 2006 to 2007, he was a visiting writer-in-residence at

, where he taught nonfiction writing. In 2007, he received a

Guggenheim fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

, which funded his book ''The Mermaids of Lapland'', about

William Cobbett William Cobbett (9 March 1763 – 18 June 1835) was an English pamphleteer, journalist, politician, and farmer born in Farnham, Surrey. He was one of an Agrarianism, agrarian faction seeking to reform Parliament, abolish "rotten boroughs", restr ...

. In 2012, he published “Several Short Sentences About Writing”. He currently teaches creative writing at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

and lives on a small farm in

Upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region of New York (state), New York that lies north and northwest of the New York metropolitan area, New York City metropolitan area of downstate New York. Upstate includes the middle and upper Hudson Valley, ...

Bibliography

Books

*The Rural Life *More Scenes from the Rural Life (Princeton Architectural Press) *Making Hay * The Last Fine Time *Timothy; or, Notes of an Abject Reptile * Several Short Sentences About Writing

Book reviews

References

External links

Biography
from ''The New York Times''

from ''The New York Times'', September 5, 2006

{{DEFAULTSORT:Klinkenborg, Verlyn 1952 births Living people 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers American Book Award winners American newspaper editors Bard College faculty Harvard University faculty Journalists from Upstate New York People from Clarion, Iowa People from Meeker, Colorado People from Osage, Iowa Place of birth missing (living people) Pomona College alumni Princeton University alumni The New York Review of Books people The New York Times columnists Watson Fellows Writers from Iowa Writers from New York (state) American male non-fiction writers 21st-century American male writers