Douglas Woolf
Douglas Woolf was an American author born on March 23, 1922, in New York City. He grew up in Connecticut in a family that experienced early divorce, leading to a childhood marked by transitions between his parents. Woolf attended Harvard University before serving in World War II as an ambulance driver and flight navigator, experiences that informed his later writing, particularly concerning the challenges faced by returning veterans. After the war, he graduated from the University of New Mexico in 1950 and pursued further studies at the University of Arizona.
Woolf's literary career began with his first novel, "The Hypocritic Days," published in 1955, although it was initially rejected as his master's thesis. He became known for his darkly comic and often critical portrayals of contemporary American life, with significant works such as "Wall to Wall" and "Fade Out." His stories frequently explore themes of paranoia and the underbelly of society. Despite facing challenges in gaining recognition and selling his works, Woolf remained dedicated to his craft, often working various jobs to support himself while writing. He passed away on January 18, 1992, and his literary legacy continues, with his papers archived at the University of Delaware.
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Subject Terms
Douglas Woolf
Author
- Born: March 23, 1922
- Birthplace: New York, New York
- Died: January 18, 1992
- Place of death: Urbana, Illinois
Biography
Douglas Woolf was born March 23, 1922, in New York City, the son of Douglas Gordon Woolf and Dorothy Keeffe Woolf. His parents divorced while he was a child. Woolf grew up in affluent suburbs in Connecticut feeling that he was being constantly shuttled between his parents. His father sold Persian rugs and edited a textiles journal. His stepmother, an architect, was Thomas Edison’s granddaughter. Woolf attended Harvard University in 1939-1942 before serving in the Army during World War II. He was an ambulance driver in North Africa and then a flight navigator. Many of his early stories focus on the dilemmas facing returning veterans.
After the war, he continued his education at the University of New Mexico, graduating in 1950, and he did graduate work at the University of Arizona in 1950-1954. His first novel, The Hypocritic Days (1955), was not accepted as his master’s thesis but was published by poet Robert Creeley’s Diver Press. Woolf married Yvonne Elyce Stone in 1949, and the couple had two daughters. His second wife, from 1973, was Sandra Braman, a poet with whom he created Wolf Run Press. They were later divorced. Braman recounts selling her husband’s books on streets in her book A True Story (1985). While struggling as a young writer, Woolf worked as a migrant farm laborer, filled cigarette machines, sold ice cream from a truck, manned a fire tower in the New Mexico wilderness, washed windows at a luxury hotel in Miami, and returned cars cross-country for rental agencies. Woolf used his experiences in these and similar jobs in his fiction.
Woolf’s stories and novels offer a bleak but darkly comic view of contemporary America. Paranoia is a major theme. Wall to Wall (1962), in which an attendant at a mental institution travels across the country, has been considered an underground classic. This satirical look at America’s underbelly is widely thought to be one of Woolf’s two best novels. The other is Fade Out (1959), in which an elderly man visits an Arizona ghost town. Most of Woolf’s fiction was published by small presses, and when Harper and Row failed to sell many copies of Ya! And John-Juan (1971), two short novels, he bought the remainders and sought buyers for himself.
After many years of ill health, Woolf died on January 18, 1992, in Urbana, Illinois. His papers and letters are housed at the University of Delaware.