William Mode Spackman (May 20, 1905 – August 3, 1990) was an American writer. He was born in

Coatesville, Pennsylvania Coatesville is the only city in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 13,350 at the 2020 census. Coatesville is approximately 39 miles west of Philadelphia. It developed along the Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike ...

, the son of George Harvey Spackman and Alice Pennock Mode. A graduate of the Friends School of

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington is the List of municipalities in Delaware, most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North America. It lie ...

and in 1927

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 ...

(B.A.; later also an M.A.), he was also a

Rhodes Scholar The Rhodes Scholarship is an international Postgraduate education, postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford in Oxford, United Kingdom. The scholarship is open to people from all backgrounds around the world. Esta ...

Balliol College Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and ar ...

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

. In 1929, he married Mary Ann Matthews (1902–1978); they had three children: Peter (1930–1995), Ann (1932–1961), and Harriet (born 1934). Spackman was awarded a

Rockefeller Fellowship The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The foundation was created by Standard Oil magnate John D. Rockefeller ("Seni ...

to study public opinion at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

. Spackman also taught classics briefly at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

and worked in radio. Spackman's literary success came relatively late in life. He wrote about romance from a realistic rather than a romantic perspective. Highly praised by critics like John Leonard,

John Updike John Hoyer Updike (March 18, 1932 – January 27, 2009) was an American novelist, poet, short-story writer, art critic, and literary critic. One of only four writers to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction more than once (the others being Booth Tar ...

, and

Stanley Elkin Stanley Lawrence Elkin (May 11, 1930 – May 31, 1995) was an American novelist, short story writer, and essayist. His extravagant, satirical fiction revolves around American consumerism, popular culture, and male-female relationships. Biograp ...

, he has been called a "Fabergé of novelists" and his works have been called "delicate comedies." The characters in his novels are school friends, their associations, often in New York City, and the women with whom they spent time. He was the author of: * '' An Armful of Warm Girl'' (1978) * ''A Difference in Design'' (1983) * ''A Little Decorum, for Once'' (1985) * ''Heyday'' (1953) * ''A Presence with Secrets'' (1980) * ''As I Sauntered Out, One Mid-Century Morning'' (published posthumously in the following:) * ''The Complete Fiction of W.M. Spackman'' (Dalkey Archive Press, 1997) He was also the author of a collection of essays entitled ''On the Decay of Humanism'' (Rutgers University Press, 1967). Its contents, along with his other essays and reviews, were reprinted in ''On the Decay of Criticism: The Complete Essays of W. M. Spackman'' (Fantagraphics Books, 2017). Typescript drafts, revisions, and galley proofs of three of his novels have been deposited in the archives of the Princeton University Library.Princeton University Library
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spackman, William Mode 1905 births 1990 deaths Princeton University alumni Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Rockefeller Fellows American male writers 20th-century American writers