John Ward Leggett (November 11, 1917 – January 25, 2015) was an American writer who served as the third director of the

Iowa Writers' Workshop The Iowa Writers' Workshop, at the University of Iowa, is a celebrated graduate-level creative writing program in the United States. The writer Lan Samantha Chang is its director. Graduates earn a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in Creative W ...

from 1970 to 1987.

Biography

Leggett was born in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

to Bleecker Noel Leggett, a real estate manager, and Dorothy Mahar (or Mahan). She died the following year during the

1918 influenza pandemic The 1918–1920 influenza pandemic, commonly known by the misnomer Spanish flu or as the Great Influenza epidemic, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus. The earliest documented case was ...

, and Leggett was raised by his grandmother. Leggett attended the

Manlius School The gens Manlia () was one of the oldest and noblest patrician houses at Rome, from the earliest days of the Republic until imperial times. The first of the gens to obtain the consulship was Gnaeus Manlius Cincinnatus, consul in 480 BC, and for ...

in Syracuse, but left for

Bard College Bard College is a private liberal arts college in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. The campus overlooks the Hudson River and Catskill Mountains, and is within the Hudson River Historic District—a National Historic Landmark. Founded in 1860, ...

before graduating. He finished high school at Phillips Academy of

Andover, Massachusetts Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It was settled in 1642 and incorporated in 1646."Andover" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th ed., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 387. As of th ...

, then attended

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

. Upon his graduation with a degree in drama in 1942, he served as a

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

lieutenant in the Pacific Theater. After the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Leggett collected "a fat swatch of rejection slips" until in 1950 he was offered a job at

Houghton Mifflin The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often voc ...

in Boston, where he worked for 10 years as an editor and publicity director, then for seven years as editor at Harper and Rowe in New York. In 1967, Leggett wrote a non-fiction book, which became Ross & Tom: Two American Tragedies. He joined the English department of the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 col ...

in 1969, and was named the director of the Writers' Workshop in 1970. During his tenure, writers such as Allan Gurganus,

Richard Bausch Richard Bausch (born April 18, 1945) is an American novelist and short story writer, and Professor in the Writing Program at Chapman University in Orange, California. He has published twelve novels, eight short story collections, and one volume o ...

T.C. Boyle Thomas Coraghessan Boyle, also known as T. C. Boyle and T. Coraghessan Boyle (born December 2, 1948), is an American novelist and short story writer. Since the mid-1970s, he has published sixteen novels and more than 100 short stories. He won the ...

Ethan Canin Ethan Andrew Canin (born July 19, 1960) is an American author, educator, and physician. He is a member of the faculty of the Iowa Writers' Workshop at the University of Iowa. Canin was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, while his parents were vacatio ...

Michael Cunningham Michael Cunningham (born November 6, 1952) is an American novelist and screenwriter. He is best known for his 1998 novel '' The Hours'', which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the PEN/Faulkner Award in 1999. Cunningham is a senior lectur ...

Gail Godwin Gail Godwin (born June 18, 1937) is an American novelist and short story writer. Godwin has written 14 novels, two short story collections, three non-fiction books, and ten libretti. Her primary literary accomplishments are her novels, which have ...

Denis Johnson Denis Hale Johnson (July 1, 1949 – May 24, 2017) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and poet. He is perhaps best known for his debut short story collection, '' Jesus' Son'' (1992). His most successful novel, ''Tree of Smoke'' (2007) ...

, and

Jane Smiley Jane Smiley (born September 26, 1949) is an American novelist. She won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1992 for her novel ''A Thousand Acres'' (1991). Biography Born in Los Angeles, California, Smiley grew up in Webster Groves, Missouri, a s ...

came to the workshop as students. Writers he attracted as faculty include

Stanley Elkin Stanley Lawrence Elkin (May 11, 1930 – May 31, 1995) was an American novelist, short story writer, and essayist. His extravagant, satirical fiction revolves around American consumerism, popular culture, and male-female relationships. Biograp ...

, John Cheever,

Ian McEwan Ian Russell McEwan, (born 21 June 1948) is an English novelist and screenwriter. In 2008, ''The Times'' featured him on its list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945" and ''The Daily Telegraph'' ranked him number 19 in its list of th ...

Raymond Carver Raymond Clevie Carver Jr. (May 25, 1938 – August 2, 1988) was an American short story writer and poet. He contributed to the revitalization of the American short story during the 1980s. Early life Carver was born in Clatskanie, Oregon, a mil ...

Jorie Graham Jorie Graham (; born May 9, 1950) is an American poet. The Poetry Foundation called Graham "one of the most celebrated poets of the American post-war generation." She replaced poet Seamus Heaney as Boylston Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory at ...

, Frederick Exley,

Barry Hannah Barry Hannah (April 23, 1942 – March 1, 2010) was an American novelist and short story writer from Mississippi.Kellogg, Carolyn (March 2, 2010)"Author Barry Hannah, 67, has died" ''Los Angeles Times''. Retrieved May 18, 2013. Hannah was born in ...

James Alan McPherson James Alan McPherson (September 16, 1943 – July 27, 2016) was an American essayist and short-story writer. He was the first African-American writer to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and was included among the first group of artists who re ...

John Irving John Winslow Irving (born John Wallace Blunt Jr.; March 2, 1942) is an American-Canadian novelist, short story writer, and screenwriter. Irving achieved critical and popular acclaim after the international success of ''The World According to ...

, and Frank Conroy, who became his successor. Leggett retired in 1987, moved to Napa and helped run the Napa Valley Writers’ Conference, established in 1981 by Dave Evans of

Napa Valley College Napa Valley College, formerly Napa Junior College and Napa Community College, is a public community college in Napa, California. The tree-lined main campus is on overlooking the Napa River and includes a performing arts center, a child develop ...

. Leggett died of pneumonia at

Queen of the Valley Medical Center Queen of the Valley Medical Center is a medical center located in Napa, California operated by Providence Health & Services. The hospital first opened its doors in 1958 when it replaced Parks Victory Memorial Hospital. It is a Level III adult trau ...

Napa, California Napa is the largest city and county seat of Napa County and a principal city of Wine Country in Northern California. Located in the North Bay region of the Bay Area, the city had a population of 77,480 as of the end of 2021. Napa is a major t ...

on January 25, 2015.

Personal

Leggett married Mary Lee Fahnestock in 1947. They had three sons, Timothy, John, and Anthony, and divorced in 1986. Leggett moved to Napa, California in 1987 and later married Edwina Bennington of San Francisco, with whom he lived until his death.

Books

*''Wilder Stone'' (1960) Harper & Brothers, about the relationship with his father. *''The Gloucester Branch ''(1964) Harper & Row *''Who Took the Gold Away'' (1969) Random House, about mismatched college friends, Leggett's time at Yale. *''Ross and Tom: Two American Tragedies'' (1974) Simon & Schuster *''Gulliver House'' (1979) Houghton Mifflin—about the publishing industry. *''Making Believe'' (1986) Houghton Mifflin *''A Daring Young Man: A Biography of William Saroyan'' (2002) Knopf, a biography of two young novelists of the late 1940s,

Thomas Heggen Thomas Heggen (December 23, 1918 – May 19, 1949) was an American author best known for his 1946 novel '' Mister Roberts'' and its adaptations to stage and screen. Heggen became an Oklahoman in 1935, when in the depths of the Depression h ...

and Ross Lockridge Jr., who both committed suicide. Leggett’s notes and research were published in 2003 as an addendum to the book.

References

External links

* * John Leggett Writings. Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. {{DEFAULTSORT:Leggett, John 1917 births 2015 deaths Yale University alumni Iowa Writers' Workshop faculty American publishers (people) United States Navy personnel of World War II United States Navy officers Bard College alumni Writers from Manhattan Deaths from pneumonia in California People from Napa, California Manlius Pebble Hill School alumni Military personnel from California