John T. Frederick

Template:Refimprove John Towner Frederick (February 1, 1893 - January 31, 1975) was an American poet, novelist, editor, and academic.

Life

Youth and education

Towner was born in Corning, Iowa, the only child of Mary Elmira (Towner) and Oliver Roberts Frederick. He graduated from Corning High School in 1909.

He attended University of Iowa starting at age 16 in 1909. From 1911 to 1913 he had to drop out, for financial reasons, and teach high school in Prescott, Iowa. Returning to university in 1913, he was a member of the Athelney Club and Phi Beta Kappa, and was his senior class president. He received a B.A. degree in 1915, and a master's degree from Iowa in 1917.

Career

• Founder and Editor of The Midland, a literary magazine published 1915 to 1933.
• Authored numerous books, including his early works entitled Druida and Green Bush.
• Member of the Department of English at the University of Iowa from 1921 to 1930.
• Conducted Of Men and Books on CBS radio from 1937 to 1944.
• Professor at both Northwestern University (Medill School of Journalism) and University of Notre Dame from 1930 to 1945.
• Professor at Notre Dame from 1945 to 1962.
• Chairman of Notre Dame's Department of English for three years prior to his retirement (1959–1962).
• Visiting University of Iowa Department of English professor from 1962 to 1970.
• Book reviewer for Chicago Tribune.

Family

He married Esther Paulus on June 22, 1915 and had two children, John Joseph and James Oliver. Esther died in 1954 and he married Lucy Gertrude Paulus in the early 1960s.

He died January 31, 1975 and is buried in Harrisville, Michigan near his summer home of Glennie, Michigan.

His granddaughter currently resides in the house near Glennie with her husband and her two sons.

Recognition

In 1962 at his retirement, Frederick received an honorary Doctor of Literature from the University of Notre Dame.

Publications

Novels

• Druida (with woodcuts by Wilfred Jones). New York: Knopf, 1923.
• Green Bush (illustrated by George L. Stout). New York: Knopf, 1925.
• he Stockade: a Story of the Copperhead Plot in 1864. Published serially in Wallaces' Farmer, December 2, 1927-May 4, 1928.

Non-fiction

• A Handbook of Short Story Writing. New York: Knopf, 1924.
• Good Writing: A Book for College Students (with Leo L. Ward). New York: F.S. Crofts, 1934.
• The Darkened Sky: Nineteenth-century American novelists and religion. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1969.
• William Henry Hudson. New York: Twayne, 1972.

Edited

• The Midland (literary magazine). Iowa City, IA: 1915-1933; New York: Kraus Reprint, 1972.
• Stories from The Midland. New York: Knopf, 1924.
• Reading for Writing: Studies in substance and form (edited with Leo L. Ward). New York, F.S. Crofts, 1935.
• Present-Day Stories. New York & Chicago: Scribner, 1941.
• Conference Poetry, 1943 (edited with Eunice Tietjens). Muscatine, IA: Prairie Press, 1943.
• Out of the Midwest: A collection of present-day writing. London & New York: Whittlesey House / McGraw-Hill, 1944.
• Anthology of American Negro Literature (edited with Sylvestre C. Watkins). New York: Modern Library, 1944.
• American Literature: An anthology and critical survey (edited with Joe Lee Davis & Frank Luther Mott). (2 volumes), New York: Scribner, 1948-1949.
• Adventures in Fiction. New York: Harcourt Brace & World, 1964.

• Participation Texts. Chicago: Chicago Dramatic Publishing, 1969.

Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.

See also

• List of U.S. poets

External links

Poems

• "The Orchard" in Poetry: A magazine of verse, 1912-1922.

About

• Frederick, John Towner at the Biographical Dictionary of Iowa
• Professor John T. Frederick
• The Achievement of John T. Frederick by Sargent Bush, Jr. (with bibliography)
• UI Alumni Association - distinguished alumni award - John Towner Frederick

Etc.

• The Midland Magazine website