Charlton Laird
Encyclopedia
Charlton Grant Laird was an American linguist, lexicographer, novelist, and essayist. Laird created the 1971 edition of the Webster's New World Thesaurus that became the standardized edition still used today. During his lifetime, he was probably best known for his language studies: books, textbooks, and reference works elucidating the English language
for the layman along with his numerous contributions to dictionaries and thesauruses
.
Laird wrote many other works of non-fiction and fiction, including two novels. He also published literary criticism, was a university instructor, and a leading expert and scholar on the life and work of Western novelist (and fellow Nevada writer) Walter Van Tilburg Clark
. (see "Selected bibliography" below)
According to Webster's New World Thesarus, it was Laird who created this "eminently successful work":
Laird was born in Nashua, Iowa
and received his undergraduate education at the University of Iowa
and went on to Columbia
, Stanford
, and Yale
. He taught at Drake University
and at the University of Nevada at Reno
where he was professor of English from 1945–1968.
Charlton Laird was elected to the Nevada Writers Hall of Fame in 1990.
Nonfiction
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
for the layman along with his numerous contributions to dictionaries and thesauruses
Thesaurus
A thesaurus is a reference work that lists words grouped together according to similarity of meaning , in contrast to a dictionary, which contains definitions and pronunciations...
.
Laird wrote many other works of non-fiction and fiction, including two novels. He also published literary criticism, was a university instructor, and a leading expert and scholar on the life and work of Western novelist (and fellow Nevada writer) Walter Van Tilburg Clark
Walter Van Tilburg Clark
Walter Van Tilburg Clark was an American novelist, short story writer, and educator. He ranks as one of Nevada's most distinguished literary figures of the 20th century and is known primarily for his novels, his one volume of stories, as well as his uncollected short stories...
. (see "Selected bibliography" below)
According to Webster's New World Thesarus, it was Laird who created this "eminently successful work":
Laird was born in Nashua, Iowa
Nashua, Iowa
Nashua is a city in Chickasaw and Floyd counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 1,663 an increase of 45, or 2.8%, from 1,618 reported at the 2000 census...
and received his undergraduate education at the University of Iowa
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...
and went on to Columbia
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, Stanford
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
, and Yale
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
. He taught at Drake University
Drake University
Drake University is a private, co-educational university located in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. The institution offers a number of undergraduate and graduate programs, as well as professional programs in law and pharmacy. Today, Drake is one of the twenty-five oldest law schools in the country....
and at the University of Nevada at Reno
University of Nevada, Reno
The University of Nevada, Reno , is a teaching and research university established in 1874 and located in Reno, Nevada, USA...
where he was professor of English from 1945–1968.
Charlton Laird was elected to the Nevada Writers Hall of Fame in 1990.
Selected bibliography
Novels- Thunder on the River. Boston: Little, Brown, 1949.
- West of the River. Boston: Little, Brown, 1953.
Nonfiction
- A Basic Course in Modern English. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1963. (Co-authors: Robert M. Gorrell and Raymond J. Pflug)
- Walter Van Tilburg Clark. Reno: Black Rock Press, 1972.
- Walter van Tilburg Clark, Critiques. Reno, NV: Univ. of Nevada Press, 1983.
- Collins New World Thesaurus. London: Collins, 1979. new ed.
External links
- Charlton Laird Homepage at the Nevada Writers Hall of Fame
- Charlton Laird Paper housed in the Special Collections Department at the University of Iowa Libraries.