William Keepers Maxwell Jr. (August 16, 1908 – July 31, 2000) was an American editor, novelist, short story writer, essayist, children's author, and memoirist. He served as a fiction editor 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 ...

'' from 1936 to 1975. An editor devoted to his writers, Maxwell became a mentor and confidant to many authors.

Early life

Maxwell was born in

Lincoln, Illinois Lincoln is a city in Logan County, Illinois, United States. First settled in the 1830s, it is the only town in the U.S. that was named for Abraham Lincoln before he became President of the United States, president; he practiced law there from 18 ...

, on August 16, 1908. His parents were William Keepers Maxwell and Eva Blossom (née Blinn) Maxwell. During the

1918 flu epidemic The ceasefire that effectively ended the World War I, First World War took place on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of this year. Also in this year, the Spanish flu pandemic killed 50–100 million people wor ...

, the 10-year-old Maxwell became ill and survived, but his mother died. After his mother's death, the boy was sent to live with an aunt and uncle in

Bloomington, Illinois Bloomington is a city in McLean County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census showed the city had a population of 78,680, making it the List of municipalities in Illinois, 13th-most populous ci ...

. His father remarried, and young Maxwell joined him 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 ...

. He attended

Senn High School Senn High School is a public four-year high school located in the Edgewater neighborhood on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Senn is operated by the Chicago Public Schools system and was opened on 3 February 1913. The school ...

. He received his

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

'' from the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

in 1930 where he was class salutatorian, elected to

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...

, poetry editor of ''

The Daily Illini ''The Daily Illini'', commonly known as the ''DI'', is a student-run newspaper that has been published for the community of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign since 1871. Weekday circulation during fall and spring semesters is 7,000; c ...

'', and a member of

Sigma Pi Sigma Pi () is a collegiate fraternity in North America. As of 2021, it had more than 5,000 undergraduate members and over 118,000 alumni. The fraternity is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded on February 26, 1897, at Vincennes Uni ...

fraternity. Maxwell earned an A.M. at

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 ...

. Maxwell briefly taught English at the University of Illinois where he served as faculty advisor to his fraternity and published an article about it in the fraternity's magazine before moving to New York.

Career

Maxwell was best known for being a fiction editor of ''The New Yorker'' magazine for thirty-nine years (1936–1975), where he worked with writers such as

Sylvia Townsend Warner Sylvia Nora Townsend Warner (6 December 1893 – 1 May 1978) was an English novelist, poet and musicologist, known for works such as '' Lolly Willowes'', '' The Corner That Held Them'', and '' Kingdoms of Elfin''. Her paternal grandfather, The ...

Vladimir Nabokov Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov ( ; 2 July 1977), also known by the pen name Vladimir Sirin (), was a Russian and American novelist, poet, translator, and entomologist. Born in Imperial Russia in 1899, Nabokov wrote his first nine novels in Rus ...

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 ...

J. D. Salinger Jerome David Salinger ( ; January 1, 1919 – January 27, 2010) was an American author best known for his 1951 novel '' The Catcher in the Rye''. Salinger published several short stories in '' Story'' magazine in 1940, before serving in World Wa ...

John Cheever John William Cheever (May 27, 1912 – June 18, 1982) was an American short story writer and novelist. He is sometimes called "the Chekhov of the suburbs". His fiction is mostly set on the Upper East Side of Manhattan; the Westchester suburbs ...

Mavis Gallant Mavis Leslie de Trafford Gallant, ( Young; 11 August 1922 – 18 February 2014), was a Canadian writer who spent much of her life and career in France. Best known as a short story writer, she also published novels, plays and essays. Person ...

Frank O'Connor Frank O'Connor (born Michael Francis O'Donovan; 17 September 1903 – 10 March 1966) was an Irish author and translator. He wrote poetry (original and translations from Irish), dramatic works, memoirs, journalistic columns and features on as ...

Larry Woiwode Larry Alfred Woiwode (October 30, 1941April 28, 2022) was an American writer from North Dakota, where he was the state's Poet Laureate from 1995 until his death. His work appeared in ''The New Yorker'', ''Esquire'', ''The Atlantic Monthly'', ''H ...

Maeve Brennan Maeve Brennan (6 January 1917 – 1 November 1993) was an Irish short story writer and journalist. She moved to the United States in 1934 when her father was assigned by the Department of Foreign Affairs to the Irish Legation in Washingto ...

John O'Hara John Henry O'Hara (January 31, 1905 – April 11, 1970) was an American writer. He was one of America's most prolific writers of Short story, short stories, credited with helping to invent ''The New Yorker'' magazine short story style.John O'H ...

Eudora Welty Eudora Alice Welty (April 13, 1909 – July 23, 2001) was an American short-story writer, novelist and photographer who wrote about the American South. Her novel '' The Optimist's Daughter'' won the Pulitzer Prize in 1973. Welty received numerou ...

Shirley Hazzard Shirley Hazzard (30 January 1931 – 12 December 2016) was an Australian-American novelist, short story writer, and essayist. She was born in Australia and also held U.S. citizenship. Hazzard's 1970 novel '' The Bay of Noon'' was shortlisted ...

, and

Isaac Bashevis Singer Isaac Bashevis Singer (; 1903 – July 24, 1991) was a Poland, Polish-born Jews, Jewish novelist, short-story writer, memoirist, essayist, and translator in the United States. Some of his works were adapted for the theater. He wrote and publish ...

. Welty wrote of him as an editor: "For fiction writers, he was the headquarters." He also wrote six novels, short stories and essays, children's stories, and a memoir, ''Ancestors'' (1972). His fiction has recurring themes of childhood, family, loss, and lives changed quietly and irreparably. Much of his work is autobiographical, particularly concerning the loss of his mother when he was 10 years old and growing up in rural

Midwestern United States The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

. After the flu epidemic, young Maxwell had to move away from his house, which he referred to as the "Wunderkammer" or "Chamber of Wonders". He spoke of his loss, "It happened too suddenly, with no warning, and we none of us could believe it or bear it ... the beautiful, imaginative, protected world of my childhood swept away." In 1968, Maxwell was elected president of the

National Institute of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Its fixed number membership is elected for lifetime appointments. Its headqua ...

. Maxwell was a friend and correspondent of the English writer Sylvia Townsend Warner, and was her literary executor. He edited a volume of her letters, and a further volume of his correspondence with her, ''The Element of Lavishness'', was published in 2001. Since his death in 2000, several biographical works about him have been published, including ''A William Maxwell Portrait: Memories and Appreciations'' (W. W. Norton & Co., 2004), ''My Mentor: A Young Man's Friendship with William Maxwell'' by

Alec Wilkinson Alec Wilkinson (born March 29, 1952) is an American writer who has been on the staff of ''The New Yorker'' since 1980. According to ''The Philadelphia Inquirer '' he is among the "first rank of" contemporary American (20th and early 21st century ...

(Houghton-Mifflin, 2002), and ''William Maxwell: A Literary Life'' by Barbara Burkhardt (University of Illinois Press, 2005). In 2008, the

Library of America The Library of America (LOA) is a nonprofit publisher of classic American literature. Founded in 1979 with seed money from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Ford Foundation, the LOA has published more than 300 volumes by authors ...

published the first of two collections of works by Maxwell, ''Early Novels and Stories'', edited by Christopher Carduff. His collected edition of Maxwell's fiction, published to mark the writer's centenary, was completed by publication of the second volume, ''Later Novels and Stories'', in the fall of 2008.

Personal life

William Maxwell married Emily Gilman Noyes of

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

. Emily Maxwell was an accomplished painter, winning the Medal of Honor in 1986 from the

National Association of Women Artists The National Association of Women Artists, Inc. (NAWA) is a United States organization, founded in 1889 to gain recognition for professional women fine artists in an era when that field was strongly male-oriented. It sponsors exhibitions, awards ...

. She also reviewed children's books for ''The New Yorker''. The couple were married for 55 years. Maxwell died eight days after his wife. They had two daughters, Katherine and artist and curator Emily Brooke ("Brookie") Maxwell. William Maxwell died on July 31, 2000, in New York City. The epitaph marking his memorial gravestone in Oregon reads, "The Work is the Message".

Bibliography

Novels

* ''Bright Center of Heaven'' (1934) * ''They Came Like Swallows'' (1937)Autobiographical novella about the cruel impact of the 1918 flu epidemic, as seen through the eyes of an 8-year-old Midwestern child and his family. * ''The Folded Leaf'' (1945) * ''Time Will Darken It'' (1948) * ''The Chateau'' (1961) * '' So Long, See You Tomorrow'' (1980)An aging man remembers a boyhood friendship he had in 1920s Illinois, which falters following a murder. ;Omnibus editions * ''Early Novels and Stories: Bright Center of Heaven / They Came Like Swallows / The Folded Leaf / Time Will Darken It / Stories 1938–1956'' (

, 2008) * ''Later Novels and Stories: The Château / So Long, See You Tomorrow / Stories and Improvisations 1957 – 1999'' (Library of America, 2008)

Short fiction

;Collections * ''Stories'' (1956), with

Jean Stafford Jean Stafford (July 1, 1915 – March 26, 1979) was an American short story writer and novelist who shared the same name with country music singer Jean Stafford. She won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for '' The Collected Stories of Jean Staffo ...

and

Daniel Fuchs Daniel Fuchs (June 25, 1909 – July 26, 1993) was an American screenwriter, fiction writer, and essayist. Biography Daniel Fuchs was born to a Jewish family on the Lower East Side, Manhattan, but his family moved to Williamsburg, Brooklyn whi ...

* ''The Old Man at the Railroad Crossing and Other Tales'' (1966) * ''Over by the River, and Other Stories'' (1977) * ''Five Tales'' (1988) * ''Billie Dyer and Other Stories'' (1992) * ''All The Days and Nights: The Collected Stories of William Maxwell'' (1995) ;Stories

Non-fiction

;Essays and reporting * * ''The Outermost Dream'' (1989) ;Memoirs * ''Ancestors: A Family History''(1972)

Children's books

* '' The Heavenly Tenants'' (1946)The constellations of the

zodiac The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north and south celestial latitude of the ecliptic – the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. Within this zodiac ...

come to life and visit a family farm in Wisconsin. * ''Mrs. Donald's Dog Bun and His Home Away from Home'' (1995) ——————— ;Notes

Awards and honors

*1947 Newbery Medal runner-up for ''The Heavenly Tenants'' *1980 William Dean Howells Medal for ''So Long, See You Tomorrow'', *1982 National Book Award for ''So Long, See You Tomorrow''

National Book Foundation The National Book Foundation (NBF) is an American nonprofit organization established with the goal "to raise the cultural appreciation of great writing in America." Established in 1989 by National Book Awards, Inc.,Edwin McDowell. "Book Notes: ...

.
"National Book Awards – 1982"
Retrieved March 11, 2012. *1984 Brandeis Creative Arts Award *1995 PEN/Malamud Award *1995 Mark Twain AwardMark Twain Award, Society for the Study of Midwestern Literature
Retrieved March 23, 2013

References

External links

William Maxwell
''The Paris Review''

''The New York Times''
Imperishable Maxwell
''The New Yorker''
Love, Bill
''Chicago Magazine''
A Master is Given His Due
''The Wall Street Journal''
William Maxwell, the 'Wisest, Kindest' Writer
NPR interview with Maxwell by Terri Gross * * * *
William Keepers Maxwell, Find A Grave

Emily Noyes Maxwell, Find A Grave
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maxwell, William Keepers 1908 births 2000 deaths University of Illinois alumni University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni Harvard University alumni 20th-century American novelists American male novelists The New Yorker people The New Yorker editors Newbery Honor winners People from Lincoln, Illinois Novelists from Illinois National Book Award winners PEN/Malamud Award winners Journalists from Illinois 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers American male non-fiction writers 20th-century American journalists American male journalists Sigma Pi members