Donald Heiney

Donald Heiney (; September 7, 1921 – July 24, 1993) was a sailor and academic as well as a prolific and inventive writer using the pseudonym of MacDonald Harris for fiction.

Biography

Heiney was born in South Pasadena, California, and grew up in South Pasadena and San Gabriel. He served in the Merchant Marine and the Navy during World War II and afterward earned a B.A. from University of Redlands. He joined the faculty of University of California, Irvine in 1965 and later co-founded UCI's writing program. One of his students was Michael Chabon, who later won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. His distinguished colleagues included novelist Oakley Hall, Victorian scholar and poet Robert Peters, and literary critic Hillis Miller.

''Publishers Weekly'' has described his work as "known for...metaphysics, hints of magic and the absurd, and a profound preoccupation with the duality of human nature," and the ''Chicago Tribune Book World'' called him "a gifted craftsman, a meticulous writer whose powers as a story teller are as compelling as the sexual tensions he imagines."

His novel ''The Balloonist'', published in 1976 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, tells the story of a polar expedition, similar to and possibly inspired by the real journey made by S. A. Andrée. ''The Balloonist'' was nominated for the National Book Award in 1977. It was reissued in 2011 by the UK publisher Galileo and in 2012 in the United States by The Overlook Press, with a foreword by Philip Pullman and positive reviews from ''The Guardian'', ''The Wall Street Journal'', and ''The Washington Post''. The Overlook Press also published his previously-unpublished novel ''The Carp Castle'' in 2013, and reissued his novel ''Screenplay'' (1982) in 2014, reviewed as "the mature work of a writer whose ability to juggle multi-layered concepts seems effortless." The reissued ''Screenplay'' was also positively reviewed by ''OC Weekly'' and ''Kirkus Reviews''.

He received a 1982 Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Sciences for his entire body of work. In 1985, his novel ''Tenth'' earned him a Special Achievement Award from the PEN Los Angeles Center.

Heiney died in 1993, at age 71, at his home in Newport Beach, California.

Bibliography

Fiction by MacDonald Harris:University of Pennsylvania Department of Physics & Astronomy.

* 1961 ''Private Demons.'' Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.
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* 1964 ''Mortal Leap.'' New York: W. W. Norton & Co. Also London: Michael Joseph Ltd, 1964.
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* 1968 ''Trepleff.'' London: Victor Gollancz Ltd. Also New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1969.
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* 1973 ''Bull Fire.'' New York: Random House. Also London: Victor Gollancz Ltd, 1973.
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* 1976 ''The Balloonist''. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, Inc. Also London: Victor Gollancz Ltd, 1977.
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* 1977 ''Yukiko''. New York: Farrar Straus & Giroux, Inc. Also London: Victor Gollancz Ltd, 1978.
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* 1979 ''Pandora's Galley''. New York: Harcourt Brace & Jovanovich, Inc. Also London: Victor Gollancz Ltd, 1980.
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* 1980 ''The Treasure of Sainte Foy''. New York: Atheneum Publishers. Also London, Victor Gollancz Ltd, 1980.
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* 1981 ''Herma''. New York: Atheneum Publishers, 1981. Also London: Jonathan Cape, 1983.
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* 1982 ''Screenplay''. New York: Atheneum Publishers. Also London: Jonathan Cape, 1983.
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* 1984 ''Tenth''. New York: Atheneum Publishers.
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* 1986 ''The Little People''. New York: William Morrow & Co., Inc.
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* 1987 ''Glowstone''. New York: William Morrow & Co., Inc.
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* 1988 ''The Cathay Stories and other Fictions''. (Short Story Collection). Santa Cruz: Story Line Press.
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* 1990 ''Hemingway's Suitcase''. New York: Simon & Schuster.
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* 1991 ''Glad Rags''. Brownsville, Oregon: Story Line Press.
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* 1993 ''Portrait of My Desire''. New York: Simon & Schuster.
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* 2012 ''The Carp Castle''. London: Galileo Publishers.
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References

External links

MacDonald Harris/ Donald Heiney
an informational website maintained by Donald Heiney's son, Paul Heiney

Guide to the Donald Heiney Papers.
Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heiney, Donald
1921 births
1993 deaths
People from South Pasadena, California
20th-century American novelists
American male novelists
People from Newport Beach, California
People from San Gabriel, California
University of California, Irvine faculty
University of Redlands alumni
20th-century American male writers
Novelists from California
United States Navy personnel of World War II