Knowles, John

born Sept. 16, 1926, Fairmont, W.Va., U.S.

died Nov. 29, 2001, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

U.S. author.

Educated at Yale University, he gained prominence for his first novel, A Separate Peace (1959), about the competitive friendship of two private-school students. Most of his novels, which include Indian Summer (1966), Spreading Fires (1974), and Peace Breaks Out (1981), are psychological examinations of characters caught in conflict between the wild and the pragmatic sides of their personalities.

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▪ 2002

      American writer (b. Sept. 16, 1926, Fairmont, W.Va.—d. Nov. 29, 2001, near Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), won instant acclaim for his first novel, A Separate Peace (1959), which sold more than eight million copies. The enduring classic became a part of the syllabus of high-school English classes throughout the U.S. In 1942, at the age of 15, Knowles entered Phillips Exeter (N.H.) Academy. Following graduation in 1945, he received training as a pilot in the U.S. Army Air Corps. In 1946 he entered Yale University, from which he graduated in 1949 with a B.A., and from 1950 to 1952 he worked as a reporter and drama critic for the Hartford (Conn.) Courant. He then went to Europe, where he was befriended by Thornton Wilder, who encouraged Knowles to write about his experiences. Returning to New York City in 1955, he worked as associate editor of Holiday magazine from 1957 to 1960. A Separate Peace, a story of the inner conflicts of adolescents, dealt with questions of loyalty and betrayal among boys at a New England boarding school. The novel won the Rosenthal Award of the National Institute of Arts and Letters and the William Faulkner Foundation Award. It was made into a film in 1972. In a 1998 poll of students at Radcliffe College, Cambridge, Mass., it was named the 67th best novel ever written in English. Neither a sequel, Peace Breaks Out (1981), nor his other books, including seven additional novels and a book of short stories, enjoyed much success, however. During the 1960s he was writer in residence at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and at Princeton University, and in the 1990s he taught creative writing at Florida Atlantic University.

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▪ American author

born Sept. 16, 1926, Fairmont, W.Va., U.S.

died Nov. 29, 2001, near Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

      American author, who was best known for his first published novel, A Separate Peace (1959; filmed 1972). Most of his works are psychological examinations of characters caught in conflict between the wild and the pragmatic sides of their personalities.

      In 1945 Knowles graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, N.H., and briefly served in the military before attending Yale University (B.A., 1949). He contributed articles to various publications during the 1950s before becoming a full-time writer. During the 1960s Knowles was a writer in residence at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and at Princeton University, and in the 1990s he taught creative writing at Florida Atlantic University.

      In 1959 Knowles won acclaim with the publication of A Separate Peace, which chronicles the competitive friendship of two students at a New England preparatory school during World War II. An enduring classic, it became part of the syllabus of high-school English classes throughout the United States. Its sequel, Peace Breaks Out (1981), features student rivalry in the same setting but viewed from the perspective of a troubled young teacher who has recently returned from World War II.

      Knowles's other novels include Indian Summer (1966), in which Harold “Cleet” Kinsolving discovers that he prefers the freedom of his simple life in the Midwest to a high-paying job in his New England hometown. The Paragon (1971) centres on Louis Colfax, a student at Yale plagued by a sense of inner emptiness. In A Vein of Riches (1978), Knowles portrayed the Catherwood family—coal barons who exploit the labour of West Virginia miners in the early 20th century. His later novels include A Stolen Past (1983) and The Private Life of Axie Reed (1986). He also wrote Double Vision (1964), a travelogue, and Phineas (1968), a collection of short stories.

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