Douglas Day
Encyclopedia
Douglas Day was a novelist, biographer, and critic.
Day won a National Book Award
(1974) for his life of English novelist Malcolm Lowry
. Malcolm Lowry: A Biography documents the turbulent life of the alcoholic writer best known for his 1947 novel "Under the Volcano." Day was also the editor, with Lowry's widow, Margerie, of Lowry's posthumous novel Dark as the Grave Wherein My Friend is Laid (1968). In 1973 Day was editor of a new and definitive edition of William Faulkner's Flags in the Dust (originally published as Sartoris). He had studied under Faulkner in graduate school when William Faulkner
was a visiting lecturer at University of Virginia.
Other books by Douglas Day include Swifter than Reason: The Poetry and Criticism of Robert Graves (1963) and two novels, Journey of the Wolf (1977), for which Day received the Rosenthal Award for Fiction from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and The Prison Notebooks of Ricardo Flores Magon (1991).
Day taught English, writing, and comparative literature at the University of Virginia
for 38 years and was director of their Creative Writing Program when he retired. As beloved by students for his flamboyant lifestyle as for his lectures, Day was a romantic figure on campus. He drove fast sports cars, walked with a limp from a mysterious leg injury, married often, and was so handsome he was once asked to model in a car advertisement. He was fluent in Spanish and spent much of his life in Spain and Latin America. One of his many areas of expertise was contemporary Hispanic and Latin American literature.
He had received grants and fellowships from the American Philosophical Society, the American Council of Learned Societies, the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation and the J. William Fulbright organization. He had a Fulbright lectureship, funded by Intercambio Cultural, at the University of Zaragoza, in Spain. In 1995, he was elected a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (Sullivan).
An undergraduate of Professor Day's, John T. Casteen III
, who later became President of the University of Virginia, said of Day, "Through it all, he was a brilliant companion and raconteur. He could talk about flying and Porsches and photography and ways of thinking with a facility and freshness of perspective that always left me or us with a wealth of things to ponder and to return to later—and he did this always with kindness and wit" (Bromley). One of his former graduate students, playwright Alex Finlayson
said, "Unlike other professors, Doug Day never seemed overly worried about his academic reputation or conforming to departmental standards. He tended to live as he pleased, with gusto, and we loved him for that."
Douglas Turner Day III was born in Colón, Panama
, where his father was an officer in the United States Navy
.He served as a U.S. Marine Corps pilot. He received three degrees at the University of Virginia before joining the English faculty there in 1962. Living to the end like the contemporary fictional heroes he brought to life for thousands of students, Day died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound on October 10, 2004, in Charlottesville. He had suffered a debilitating stroke a few months earlier.
Day won a National Book Award
National Book Award
The National Book Awards are a set of American literary awards. Started in 1950, the Awards are presented annually to American authors for literature published in the current year. In 1989 the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization which now oversees and manages the National Book...
(1974) for his life of English novelist Malcolm Lowry
Malcolm Lowry
Clarence Malcolm Lowry was an English poet and novelist who was best known for his novel Under the Volcano, which was voted No. 11 in the Modern Library 100 Best Novels list.-Biography:...
. Malcolm Lowry: A Biography documents the turbulent life of the alcoholic writer best known for his 1947 novel "Under the Volcano." Day was also the editor, with Lowry's widow, Margerie, of Lowry's posthumous novel Dark as the Grave Wherein My Friend is Laid (1968). In 1973 Day was editor of a new and definitive edition of William Faulkner's Flags in the Dust (originally published as Sartoris). He had studied under Faulkner in graduate school when William Faulkner
William Faulkner
William Cuthbert Faulkner was an American writer from Oxford, Mississippi. Faulkner worked in a variety of media; he wrote novels, short stories, a play, poetry, essays and screenplays during his career...
was a visiting lecturer at University of Virginia.
Other books by Douglas Day include Swifter than Reason: The Poetry and Criticism of Robert Graves (1963) and two novels, Journey of the Wolf (1977), for which Day received the Rosenthal Award for Fiction from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and The Prison Notebooks of Ricardo Flores Magon (1991).
Day taught English, writing, and comparative literature at the University of Virginia
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
for 38 years and was director of their Creative Writing Program when he retired. As beloved by students for his flamboyant lifestyle as for his lectures, Day was a romantic figure on campus. He drove fast sports cars, walked with a limp from a mysterious leg injury, married often, and was so handsome he was once asked to model in a car advertisement. He was fluent in Spanish and spent much of his life in Spain and Latin America. One of his many areas of expertise was contemporary Hispanic and Latin American literature.
He had received grants and fellowships from the American Philosophical Society, the American Council of Learned Societies, the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation and the J. William Fulbright organization. He had a Fulbright lectureship, funded by Intercambio Cultural, at the University of Zaragoza, in Spain. In 1995, he was elected a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (Sullivan).
An undergraduate of Professor Day's, John T. Casteen III
John T. Casteen III
John Thomas Casteen III is an American educator. He has served as Professor of English and President of the University of Virginia from 1990 through 2010.-Early life and career:...
, who later became President of the University of Virginia, said of Day, "Through it all, he was a brilliant companion and raconteur. He could talk about flying and Porsches and photography and ways of thinking with a facility and freshness of perspective that always left me or us with a wealth of things to ponder and to return to later—and he did this always with kindness and wit" (Bromley). One of his former graduate students, playwright Alex Finlayson
Alex Finlayson
Alex Finlayson is an American playwright whose sly irreverent plays have found more success on the English stage than in the United States. After winning Finlayson a Mobil Oil International Playwriting Prize, Winding the Ball — a dark comedy about a sniper shooting up the small town where he is...
said, "Unlike other professors, Doug Day never seemed overly worried about his academic reputation or conforming to departmental standards. He tended to live as he pleased, with gusto, and we loved him for that."
Douglas Turner Day III was born in Colón, Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
, where his father was an officer in the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
.He served as a U.S. Marine Corps pilot. He received three degrees at the University of Virginia before joining the English faculty there in 1962. Living to the end like the contemporary fictional heroes he brought to life for thousands of students, Day died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound on October 10, 2004, in Charlottesville. He had suffered a debilitating stroke a few months earlier.