Thomas Bonner Flanagan (November 5, 1923 – March 21, 2002) was an American university professor at the
University of California at Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant uni ...
and novelist.
Biography
Flanagan was born in 1923 in
Greenwich, Connecticut
Greenwich (, ) is a town in southwestern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. At the 2020 census, the town had a total population of 63,518. The largest town on Connecticut's Gold Coast, Greenwich is home to many hedge funds and other ...
, to a homemaker mother and a dentist father. All of his grandparents had come to the United States from
County Fermanagh
County Fermanagh ( ; ) is one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the six counties of Northern Ireland.
The county covers an area of 1,691 km2 (653 sq mi) and has a population of 61,805 ...
, Ireland. He served in the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...
during
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 ...
. He graduated from
Amherst College in 1945. He received his Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy degrees 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 ...
. From 1960 to 1978 he was Professor of English Literature at the
University of California at Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant uni ...
, specializing in
Irish literature
Irish literature comprises writings in the Irish, Latin, English and Scots ( Ulster Scots) languages on the island of Ireland. The earliest recorded Irish writing dates from the 7th century and was produced by monks writing in both Latin a ...
. He was a tenured Full Professor in the English Department at the
Stony Brook University until his retirement.
Flanagan was also a successful novelist. His first novel, ''The Year of the French'', won the
National Book Critics Award for fiction in 1979 and was adapted into a
TV series, which was broadcast in Ireland in 1982.
Personal life
In 1949, he married Jane Parker, a nurse; they had two children, writer
Caitlin Flanagan and Ellen Flanagan Klavan.
His son-in-law is writer
Andrew Klavan
Andrew Klavan (; born July 13, 1954) is an American writer of crime and suspense novels. Klavan has been nominated for the Edgar Award five times and has won twice.
Klavan has also worked in film and as an essayist and video satirist. He is also ...
.
He and his wife spent much of their time in
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
. They lived in
East Setauket,
Long Island.
He died in March 21, 2002 at the age of 78 in
Berkeley.
[
]
Works
Historical novels
*
The Year of the French
' (1979); (2004)
*''The Tenants of Time'' (1988)
*''The End of the Hunt'' (1995)
Non-fiction work
*''The Irish Novelists 1800–1850'' (1958)
Legacy
The Archives and Special Collections at Amherst College holds his papers.
References
Sources
Thomas Flanagan on Irish writers website page
External links
1923 births
2002 deaths
20th-century American novelists
Columbia University alumni
Amherst College alumni
Writers from Greenwich, Connecticut
University of California, Berkeley faculty
Writers from California
American historical novelists
American male novelists
American people of Irish descent
20th-century American male writers
Novelists from Connecticut
American atheists
United States Army personnel of World War II
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