Steele, Max, 1922-2005 - Social Networks and Archival Context (original) (raw)

Henry Max Steele, writer, professor of English and director of the creative writing program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and advisory editor at the "Paris Review."

From the description of Max Steele papers, 1950s-1990s. WorldCat record id: 46607323

Author, emeritus professor of English at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

From the description of Mac Hyman letters, 1954-1963 and undated. (Duke University Library). WorldCat record id: 233837437

Henry Maxwell Steele, more familiarly known as Max Steele, was an author, professor of English, and director of the Creative Writing Program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Max Steele was born 20 March 1922, to John M. and Minnie Russell Steele in Greenville, S.C. He was the youngest of eight children. His siblings were brothers Jack, Russell, and Mills, and sisters Mary Adams, Grace Prevost, Sarah Purser, and Frances, who never married. He was married to Diana Whittinghall in 1960, though they divorced twenty years later. He had two sons, Oliver and Kevin, who were born in 1966 and 1969 respectively. Through his son Oliver he also had two grandchildren named Charlotte and Miles.

Max Steele studied at Furman University from 1939 to 1941; the University of North Carolina in 1942 and again in 1946, when he earned his B.A.; Vanderbilt University from 1943 to 1944, where he studied meteorology for the army; the Academie Julienne from 1951 to 1952; and the Sorbonne from 1952 to 1955. He served in the Army Air Force during World War II as a meteorologist and was stationed at various places in the United States and South America during the course of the war.

His first short story, Grandfather and the Chow Dog, was published in Harper's in 1944. He continued to write, with varying intensity, throughout his life. His numerous short stories were published in many magazines, including the Atlantic, Harper's, the New Yorker, Collier's, Cosmopolitan, Mademoiselle, McCall's, Esquire, Discovery, and various quarterly reviews. His first novel, Debby, won the 1950 Harper's Book Prize and was sponsored by the Eugene Saxton Memorial Trust. He also won the O'Henry Prize Stories twice, once in 1955 for The Wanton Troopers and again in 1969 for Color the Daydream Yellow . His novel Debby was reprinted in 1960 under the title The Goblins Must Go Barefoot . The Cat and the Coffee Drinkers was published in 1969. He also published three collections of short stories: Where She Brushed Her Hair in 1968, The Hat of My Mother in 1988, and The House of Their Childhood in 1996. He was an advisory editor at the Paris Review from 1951 on, an advisory editor at Story from 1988 to 1997, and a contributing editor at the same from 1999 to 2000.

Max Steele began his teaching career in 1956, when he became a lecturer at the University of North Carolina. From 1962 to 1964 he was a lecturer at the University of California, San Francisco extension. He returned to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1966 as the Writer-in-Residence. He became an associate professor in 1968 and a full professor in 1972. Following the death of Jessie Rehder in 1967, Steele became the director of the Creative Writing Program at the University. With the assistance of other professors, including Daphne Athas and Doris Betts, Steele developed the Creative Writing Program into one of the strongest in the nation. He acted as an advisor and mentor to many young authors, including Randall Kenan, Jill McCorkle, Melanie Sumner, Charles Young, and Lawrence Naumoff. Steele retired from the University in 1987, though he continued to participate in the writing community through speeches, conferences, association memberships, and lectures through the end of his life. Max Steele died on 1 August 2005.

Jessie Rehder was a friend and associate of Max Steele. She taught writing at the University of North Carolina from 1947 until her death and was the first woman to be granted tenure in the English Department. Like Max Steele, Rehder was also a writer and published several novels, short stories, poems, and a textbook.

From the guide to the Max Steele Papers, 1693-2004, (bulk 1942-2004), (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.)

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