Donald James Winslow
Encyclopedia
Donald James Winslow was a professor at Boston University
in Boston
, United States
who specialized in the subject of biography.
. His father was a trustee of Tufts College and a friend of John Cousens, who would become president of Tufts.
During his childhood, he met guests who spoke at Lasell such as the poet Robert Frost
.
He graduated from Newton High School in 1929, and was admitted to Tufts, earning a BA in English in 1934 and an MA in English in 1935.
He began teaching in the Boston University
department of English in 1936, first as a teaching fellow and then as an instructor.
He earned a PhD from the University in 1942, and then joined US Army Air Corps Weather Service, serving there until 1946.
Returning to Boston University, Winslow rejoined the English Department, becoming a full Professor in 1953.
He chaired the English department at Boston University from 1952 to 1962.
Winslow hired the poet Robert Lowell
as a teacher in the English department, and Lowell in turn taught the poets Sylvia Plath
and Anne Sexton
.
Winslow was drawn to the subject of biography, becoming the bibliographer of the University of Hawaii
's quarterly magazine Biography
and giving one of the first university courses on the subject of biography.
He also taught courses on "Thomas Hardy
", "Virginia Woolf
", "The Age of Johnson
", "The Age of Pope
" and "Literature of the Eighteenth Century".
Winslow retired from the university in 1977.
He died of heart failure on 10 July 2010 at the age of 98.
The archives of Lasell College are named after Winslow, who gathered and established the collection.
In 1938, he took a bicycle tour of Dorset
, England
, where he met Hardy's sister Kate. Later he wrote a mongraph about Kate Hardy.
After retiring from the university, in 1987 he published a book Lasell: A History of the First Junior College for Women.
He also published a Glossary of Terms on Life Writing.
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
who specialized in the subject of biography.
Life
Donald James Winslow was born in 1911, the third of four children of Guy Winslow, president of Lasell Junior College in Auburndale, MassachusettsAuburndale, Massachusetts
Auburndale is one of the 13 villages of Newton, Massachusetts. It lies at the western end of Newton near the intersection of interstate highways 90 and 95, and is bisected by the Massachusetts Turnpike. Auburndale is surrounded by three other Newton villages as well as the city of Waltham and the...
. His father was a trustee of Tufts College and a friend of John Cousens, who would become president of Tufts.
During his childhood, he met guests who spoke at Lasell such as the poet Robert Frost
Robert Frost
Robert Lee Frost was an American poet. He is highly regarded for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of American colloquial speech. His work frequently employed settings from rural life in New England in the early twentieth century, using them to examine complex social and...
.
He graduated from Newton High School in 1929, and was admitted to Tufts, earning a BA in English in 1934 and an MA in English in 1935.
He began teaching in the Boston University
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
department of English in 1936, first as a teaching fellow and then as an instructor.
He earned a PhD from the University in 1942, and then joined US Army Air Corps Weather Service, serving there until 1946.
Returning to Boston University, Winslow rejoined the English Department, becoming a full Professor in 1953.
He chaired the English department at Boston University from 1952 to 1962.
Winslow hired the poet Robert Lowell
Robert Lowell
Robert Traill Spence Lowell IV was an American poet, considered the founder of the confessional poetry movement. He was appointed the sixth Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress where he served from 1947 until 1948...
as a teacher in the English department, and Lowell in turn taught the poets Sylvia Plath
Sylvia Plath
Sylvia Plath was an American poet, novelist and short story writer. Born in Massachusetts, she studied at Smith College and Newnham College, Cambridge before receiving acclaim as a professional poet and writer...
and Anne Sexton
Anne Sexton
Anne Sexton was an American poet, known for her highly personal, confessional verse. She won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1967...
.
Winslow was drawn to the subject of biography, becoming the bibliographer of the University of Hawaii
University of Hawaii
The University of Hawaii System, formally the University of Hawaii and popularly known as UH, is a public, co-educational college and university system that confers associate, bachelor, master, and doctoral degrees through three university campuses, seven community college campuses, an employment...
's quarterly magazine Biography
Biography (journal)
Biography: An Interdisciplinary Quarterly is an international, academic journal that provides a forum for biographical scholarship. Its articles explore the theoretical, generic, historical, and cultural dimensions of life-writing; and the integration of literature, history, the arts, and the...
and giving one of the first university courses on the subject of biography.
He also taught courses on "Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy, OM was an English novelist and poet. While his works typically belong to the Naturalism movement, several poems display elements of the previous Romantic and Enlightenment periods of literature, such as his fascination with the supernatural.While he regarded himself primarily as a...
", "Virginia Woolf
Virginia Woolf
Adeline Virginia Woolf was an English author, essayist, publisher, and writer of short stories, regarded as one of the foremost modernist literary figures of the twentieth century....
", "The Age of Johnson
Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson , often referred to as Dr. Johnson, was an English author who made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer...
", "The Age of Pope
Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope was an 18th-century English poet, best known for his satirical verse and for his translation of Homer. He is the third-most frequently quoted writer in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, after Shakespeare and Tennyson...
" and "Literature of the Eighteenth Century".
Winslow retired from the university in 1977.
He died of heart failure on 10 July 2010 at the age of 98.
The archives of Lasell College are named after Winslow, who gathered and established the collection.
Work
Winslow wrote his master's thesis and doctoral dissertation on the British writer Thomas Hardy.In 1938, he took a bicycle tour of Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, where he met Hardy's sister Kate. Later he wrote a mongraph about Kate Hardy.
After retiring from the university, in 1987 he published a book Lasell: A History of the First Junior College for Women.
He also published a Glossary of Terms on Life Writing.