Robert Worth Bingham IV (March 14, 1966 – November 28, 1999) was an American

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...

and a founding editor of the '' Open City Magazine''.

Early life

A member of a wealthy family from

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

, his great-grandfather was the politician and newspaper publisher

Robert Worth Bingham Robert Worth Bingham (November 8, 1871 – December 18, 1937) was a politician, judge, newspaper publisher and the United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom from 1933 to 1937. Background Bingham attended the University of North Carolina an ...

, and his grandfather,

Barry Bingham, Sr. George Barry Bingham Sr. (February 10, 1906 – August 15, 1988) was the patriarch of a family that dominated local media in Louisville for several decades in the 20th century. Family and career George Barry Bingham Sr. was born on February 10 ...

, went into the family newspaper businesses as an editor and publisher. Bingham's father, Robert Worth Bingham III (known by his middle name), who also worked in the family business and was expected to take over, was killed aged 34 in a car accident while on vacation at

Cape Cod Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of mainland Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer mont ...

in 1966, when his son was only three months old. Bingham graduated from

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

in 1988. He then received a

Master of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admini ...

degree from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

Career

After graduating from Columbia, his

fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary, or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a traditi ...

and

non-fiction Nonfiction, or non-fiction, is any document or media content that attempts, in good faith, to provide information (and sometimes opinions) grounded only in facts and real life, rather than in imagination. Nonfiction is often associated with be ...

appeared in ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'', and he worked for two years as a reporter for the '' Cambodia Daily''. He wrote the short story collection ''Pure Slaughter Value'' and the novel ''Lightning on the Sun''.

Personal life

Bingham died of a

heroin overdose An opioid overdose is toxicity due to excessive consumption of opioids, such as morphine, codeine, heroin, fentanyl, tramadol, and methadone. This preventable pathology can be fatal if it leads to Hypoventilation, respiratory depression, a lethal ...

at age 33 on November 28, 1999, six months after marrying Vanessa Scharven Chase, daughter of Theodore Chase Jr, professor of biochemistry at Cook College,

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...

. a Harvard graduate art historian, and five months before the publication of his novel. Bingham was a close friend of musician

Stephen Malkmus Stephen Joseph Malkmus (born May 30, 1966) is an American musician best known as the primary songwriter, lead singer and guitarist of the indie rock band Pavement. He currently performs with Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks and as a solo artist ...

; Malkmus played a show at Bingham's wedding, and served as an usher at his funeral.Spin magazine, Spin Media, March 2001, pg 94 The title of "Church on White," a song from Malkmus's debut album, ''

'', refers to Bingham's old New York City address. Bingham was also a friend of the late poet/musician David Berman (leader of the band

Silver Jews Silver Jews were an American indie rock band from New York City, formed in 1989 by David Berman alongside Pavement members Stephen Malkmus and Bob Nastanovich. Berman was the only constant band member. During the last few albums, Cassie Berman ...

); the song "Death Of An Heir of Sorrows", from Silver Jews' 2001 album ''

Bright Flight ''Bright Flight'' is the fourth studio album by indie rock group Silver Jews, released in 2001. "Tennessee" was chosen as the title track for an EP that also included "Long Long Gone", "I'm Gonna Love The Hell Out of You", and "Turn Your Guns Ar ...

'', is an elegy for Bingham.

Legacy

In Bingham's honor, the

PEN American Center PEN America (formerly PEN American Center), founded in 1922 and headquartered in New York City, is a nonprofit organization that works to defend and celebrate Freedom of speech, free expression in the United States and worldwide through the ad ...

has established the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize, which awards $25,000 to the most exceptionally talented fiction writer whose debut work represents distinguished literary achievement.PEN American Center - PEN/Robert Bingham Fellowship for Writers
Updated 2004. Accessed September 21, 2006.

Bibliography

*'' Pure Slaughter Value'' (1997) *'' Lightning on the Sun'' (2000)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bingham, Robert 1966 births 1999 deaths 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American male writers Brown University alumni Columbia University School of the Arts alumni Deaths by heroin overdose in the United States American male novelists American male short story writers

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

Writers from Louisville, Kentucky 20th-century American short story writers Novelists from Kentucky