John Frederick Pfeil (1949–2005) was an American

literary critic Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of literature's goals and methods. Th ...

and

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

. Pfeil (pronounced "file") was born September 21 in

Port Allegany, Pennsylvania Port Allegany is a borough in McKean County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,116 at the 2020 census. The town's tree-lined streets lie in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, 30 miles west of the Allegheny River's headwa ...

. He earned an undergraduate degree at

Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zephaniah Swift Moore, Amherst is the third oldest institution of higher educatio ...

in 1971 and an M.A. at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

in 1973. He taught at Stanford,

Stephens College Stephens College is a private women's college in Columbia, Missouri. It is the second-oldest women's educational establishment that is still a women's college in the United States. It was founded on August 24, 1833, as the Columbia Female Acade ...

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering co ...

, and

Trinity College (Connecticut) Trinity College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Hartford, Connecticut. Founded as Washington College in 1823, it is the second-oldest college in the state of Connecticut. Coed ...

. Pfeil was diagnosed with

melanoma Melanoma, also redundantly known as malignant melanoma, is a type of skin cancer that develops from the pigment-producing cells known as melanocytes. Melanomas typically occur in the skin, but may rarely occur in the mouth, intestines, or eye ( ...

in February 2005 and died in

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...

on 29 November 2005.

Works

* ''Goodman 2020'', novel (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1986) * ''Shine On and Other Stories'', short stories (Amherst: Lynx House Press, 1987) * ''Another Tale to Tell: Politics and Narrative in Post-Modern Culture'', nonfiction (New York: Verso, 1990) * ''What They Tell You to Forget'', a novella and short stories (Wainscott: Pushcart Press, 1996) * ''White Guys: Studies in Postmodern Domination and Difference'', nonfiction (New York: Verso, 1995)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pfeil, Fred 1949 births 2005 deaths Amherst College alumni Oregon State University faculty Deaths from melanoma Deaths from cancer in Connecticut