William Price Fox (April 9, 1926 – April 19, 2015) was an American

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 asp ...

, who wrote ''Southern Fried'' and ''Doctor Golf''. Fox has contributed to publications such as ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twi ...

'', the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'', ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgi ...

'' and '' Atlantic Monthly''.

Early life

William Price Fox was born in

Waukegan, Illinois ''(Fortress or Trading Post)'' , image_flag = , image_seal = , blank_emblem_size = 150 , blank_emblem_type = Logo , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_type1 = State , subdivisi ...

, and lived in

South Carolina )'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

most of his life. In 2008, he moved to Baltimore, Maryland and then Washington, DC.

Education

Fox dropped out of high school to join the Air Force when the United States was involved in World War II. He lied about his age in order to enroll. After his military service ended, Fox finished the coursework to received his high school diploma. He later graduated from the University of South Carolina and studied writing under

Caroline Gordon Caroline Ferguson Gordon (October 6, 1895 – April 11, 1981) was an American novelist and literary critic who, while still in her thirties, received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1932 and an O. Henry Award in 1934. Biography Gordon was born ...

Professional

Fox taught writing at the famed

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 ...

and was the Writer-In-Residence at the University of South Carolina until 2007.

Journalism

Fox wrote for ''

'', the '' Atlantic Monthly'', '' Golf Digest'', ''Golf Illustrated'', ''

Golf Magazine ''Golf Magazine'' is a monthly golf magazine. It was started in April 1959 by Universal Publishing and Distributing, who sold it to Times Mirror in 1972. Time Inc. acquired it in 2000. It was acquired by Howard Milstein in 2018. It was the world ...

'', ''

The Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely ...

'', ''Millionaire Magazine'', '' American Heritage'', the ''

'', and the ''

Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the cr ...

'', as well as countless other publications.

Critical reception

"And then I got into this writer, William Price Fox, who wrote Dixiana Moon and a lot of short stories. He's just great with detail." Bruce Springsteen, '' Musician'' "The picaresque slapstick of Pitching Tents reminds me of early William Price Fox, where the novelist doesn't seem to be so much writing and plotting as mixing up his own special brew." James Wolcott, '' Vanity Fair'' "If stores had the good taste and decency to separate books by sensibility,

rett Rett may refer to: * Andreas Rett (1924–1997), Austrian neurologist and author * Arbeidets Rett, local newspaper published in Røros, Norway * Rett syndrome, neurodevelopmental disorder of the grey matter of the brain that affects girls almost e ...

Butler would fit right next to writers like Lee Smith and William Price Fox, Southerners whose emotions go a mile deep and who remain tough and funny in very dark circumstances." Charles Taylor, '' Salon'' Kurt Vonnegut, Jr (--on Fox's Southern Fried ):

Thank God—at last, a humorist who can make us laugh! What an idea! Bill Fox stands a good chance of capturing the laugh Americans used to give to Mark Twain in simpler times. He's brilliant.

P.G. Wodehouse (--on Fox's Doctor Golf): "It's just the golf book that was needed ... very funny!" John Updike (--on Fox's Doctor Golf): " Golf in the Kingdom" put me in mind of another curious devotional work, William Price Fox's "Doctor Golf."Doctor Golf, a fanatic even quainter and keener than Shivas Irons, runs a thirty-nine-member golf sanctuary in Arkansas called Eagle-Ho, refers to "young Hagen," advocates caddy flogging, sells by mail order a clanking, cumbersome line of golf paraphernalia, and conducts a large correspondence. When one correspondent writes,"I am in my 65th year and I have been seized by golflike a mouse in the claws of a golden eagle,"Doctor Golf congratulates him: Walt Kelly (creator of Pogo-- on Fox's Moonshine Light/Moonshine Bright): "He has put down a modern generation of gasoline crazy kids in its true, bittersweet, hilarious best and, thank God, worst ... As we understand the 1850s ... because of a couple of histories of boys written by a fellow named Twain, so here can we get a slippery eyeball on the speed boys of today ... these boys are universal ... these are southerners who are very boy." Richard Yates (on Fox's Ruby Red): "William Price Fox is a natural-- and better still, he's an original ... the story is wholly alive and couldn't have been brought to life by anyone else. I think it's a beautiful piece of work."

Writer's Workshop Series for P.B.S.

Fox organized and hosted the Writer's Workshop series on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

, featuring interviews and workshops with these famous writers: *

James Dickey James Lafayette Dickey (February 2, 1923 January 19, 1997) was an American poet and novelist. He was appointed the eighteenth United States Poet Laureate in 1966. He also received the Order of the South award. Dickey is best known for his n ...

Nora Ephron Nora Ephron ( ; May 19, 1941 – June 26, 2012) was an American journalist, writer, and filmmaker. She is best known for her romantic comedy films and was nominated three times for the Writers Guild of America Award and the Academy Award for ...

* John Gardner * John Hawkes *

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 ...

Pauline Kael Pauline Kael (; June 19, 1919 – September 3, 2001) was an American film critic who wrote for ''The New Yorker'' magazine from 1968 to 1991. Known for her "witty, biting, highly opinionated and sharply focused" reviews, Kael's opinions oft ...

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 ...

George Plimpton George Ames Plimpton (March 18, 1927 – September 25, 2003) was an American writer. He is widely known for his sports writing and for helping to found ''The Paris Review'', as well as his patrician demeanor and accent. He was also known for " ...

Reynolds Price Edward Reynolds Price (February 1, 1933 – January 20, 2011) was an American poet, novelist, dramatist, essayist and James B. Duke Professor of English at Duke University. Apart from English literature, Price had a lifelong interest in Biblical ...

* Susan Sontag *

Stephen Spender Sir Stephen Harold Spender (28 February 1909 – 16 July 1995) was an English poet, novelist and essayist whose work concentrated on themes of social injustice and the class struggle. He was appointed Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry by th ...

William Styron William Clark Styron Jr. (June 11, 1925 – November 1, 2006) was an American novelist and essayist who won major literary awards for his work. Styron was best known for his novels, including: * '' Lie Down in Darkness'' (1951), his acclaimed fi ...

Kurt Vonnegut Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (November 11, 1922 – April 11, 2007) was an American writer known for his satirical and darkly humorous novels. In a career spanning over 50 years, he published fourteen novels, three short-story collections, five plays, and ...

Tom Wolfe Thomas Kennerly Wolfe Jr. (March 2, 1930 – May 14, 2018)Some sources say 1931; ''The New York Times'' and Reuters both initially reported 1931 in their obituaries before changing to 1930. See and was an American author and journalist widely ...

Personal life

Bill was married to novelist/artist Sarah Gilbert (Fox). They have one daughter named Jenkins. He had a son, Colin, and a daughter, Kathy, from previous marriages. He died on April 19, 2015, ten days after his 89th birthday.The State Newspaper - William Price Fox obituary
/ref>

Bibliography

* Southern Fried * Southern Fried Plus Six * Moonshine Light, Moonshine Bright * Ruby Red * Dixiana Moon * Chitlin Strut and Other Madrigals * Hurricane Hugo: Storm of the Century * Golfing in the Carolinas * South Carolina: Off The Beaten Path * Doctor Golf * Satchel Paige's America (voted as one of the best books of 2007 by The Library Journal) * Wild Blue Yonder

Notes

External links

William Price Fox, Jr. collection at the University of South CarolinaWilliam Price Fox's novelist wife: Sarah Gilbert (Fox)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fox, William Price 1926 births 2015 deaths Iowa Writers' Workshop faculty People from Waukegan, Illinois Writers from Baltimore University of South Carolina alumni Novelists from South Carolina American male novelists Novelists from Illinois American male journalists 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists Journalists from Illinois 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers Novelists from Maryland Novelists from Iowa 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers