Ed McClanahan
Encyclopedia
Ed McClanahan is an American novelist, essayist, and professor
.
in 1932 to Edward Leroy and Jesse (Poage) McClanahan. He attended school there and later in nearby Maysville, Kentucky
where the family relocated in 1948. McClanahan graduated from Miami University
with a B.A. in English in 1955 and from the University of Kentucky
in 1958 with a M.A. in English. McClanahan taught English at Oregon State University
, 1958-1962.
He received a Wallace Stegner Fellowship
in 1962 and remained at Stanford University
as E. H. Jones Lecturer in Creative Writing until 1972. During his time at Stanford, while also known by his hippie moniker "Captain Kentucky," McClanahan became good friends with author and fellow Stanford attendee Ken Kesey
. McClanahan was an active member of Kesey's band of Merry Pranksters
. His memoir, Famous People I Have Known, humorously recollects many of his Prankster experiences.
In 1968, he signed the “Writers and Editors War Tax Protest” pledge, vowing to refuse tax payments in protest against the Vietnam War.
McClanahan later taught at the University of Montana (1973–1976), the University of Kentucky, and Northern Kentucky University
. He was released from his contract at NKU before receiving tenure, which allowed him to complete his most recognized novel The Natural Man.
Following Kesey's death in 2001, McClanahan edited Spit in the Ocean # 7: All About Kesey, a collection of stories, poems and essays about Kesey. Spit in the Ocean # 7 was the last volume of a literary magazine Kesey himself conceived in 1973 and thereafter sporadically self-published. Each Spit in the Ocean volume featured a different theme and editor; the last Kesey-published edition, Spit in the Ocean # 6, had been released over 20 years before, in 1981.
McClanahan married Katherine Andrews in 1957 and they had three children: Kristin, Caitlin, and Jess. In 1975, he married Cia White (daughter of journalist and writer William S. White) and they had two children: Annie June and William. McClanahan currently resides in Lexington, Kentucky
with his third wife, Hilda. He is active in Kentucky literary circles and can occasionally be seen, in full "Captain Kentucky" regalia, guest-lecturing to University of Kentucky
creative writing workshops.
, Playboy
, and Rolling Stone
. In 1972 and 1974, he received Playboys award for nonfiction.
Known for his rollicking, good-naturedly crude humor and a creatively extensive vocabulary, McClanahan, along with contemporary authors Wendell Berry
, James Baker Hall
, Bobbie Ann Mason
and fellow Prankster Gurney Norman
, is considered a member of the "Fab Five" group of Kentucky writers.
The Natural Man had its inception in 1961 and was finally published in 1983 to great acclaim. McClanahan has frequently thanked Northern Kentucky University for firing him as it allowed him the opportunity to finish the novel, which was completely rewritten from first to third person.
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
.
Biography
Edward Poage McClanahan was born in Brooksville, KentuckyBrooksville, Kentucky
Brooksville is a city in Bracken County, Kentucky, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the city's population was 589. It is the county seat of Bracken County....
in 1932 to Edward Leroy and Jesse (Poage) McClanahan. He attended school there and later in nearby Maysville, Kentucky
Maysville, Kentucky
Maysville is a city in and the county seat of Mason County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 8,993 at the 2000 census, making it the fiftieth largest city in Kentucky by population. Maysville is on the Ohio River, northeast of Lexington. It is the principal city of the Maysville...
where the family relocated in 1948. McClanahan graduated from Miami University
Miami University
Miami University is a coeducational public research university located in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1809, it is the 10th oldest public university in the United States and the second oldest university in Ohio, founded four years after Ohio University. In its 2012 edition, U.S...
with a B.A. in English in 1955 and from the University of Kentucky
University of Kentucky
The University of Kentucky, also known as UK, is a public co-educational university and is one of the state's two land-grant universities, located in Lexington, Kentucky...
in 1958 with a M.A. in English. McClanahan taught English at Oregon State University
Oregon State University
Oregon State University is a coeducational, public research university located in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. The university offers undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees and a multitude of research opportunities. There are more than 200 academic degree programs offered through the...
, 1958-1962.
He received a Wallace Stegner Fellowship
Stegner Fellowship
The Stegner Fellowship program is a two-year creative writing fellowship at Stanford University. The award is named after American Wallace Stegner , an historian, novelist, short story writer, environmentalist, and Stanford faculty member who founded the university's creative writing program. Ten...
in 1962 and remained at Stanford University
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...
as E. H. Jones Lecturer in Creative Writing until 1972. During his time at Stanford, while also known by his hippie moniker "Captain Kentucky," McClanahan became good friends with author and fellow Stanford attendee Ken Kesey
Ken Kesey
Kenneth Elton "Ken" Kesey was an American author, best known for his novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest , and as a counter-cultural figure who considered himself a link between the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the hippies of the 1960s. "I was too young to be a beatnik, and too old to be a...
. McClanahan was an active member of Kesey's band of Merry Pranksters
Merry Pranksters
The Merry Pranksters were a group of people who formed around American author Ken Kesey in 1964 and sometimes lived communally at his homes in California and Oregon...
. His memoir, Famous People I Have Known, humorously recollects many of his Prankster experiences.
In 1968, he signed the “Writers and Editors War Tax Protest” pledge, vowing to refuse tax payments in protest against the Vietnam War.
McClanahan later taught at the University of Montana (1973–1976), the University of Kentucky, and Northern Kentucky University
Northern Kentucky University
|type = Public|president= Dr. James C. Votruba|city = Highland Heights|state = KY|country = U.S.|endowment = $68 million|students = 15,405|undergrad = 13,206|postgrad = 2,199|faculty = 1,159...
. He was released from his contract at NKU before receiving tenure, which allowed him to complete his most recognized novel The Natural Man.
Following Kesey's death in 2001, McClanahan edited Spit in the Ocean # 7: All About Kesey, a collection of stories, poems and essays about Kesey. Spit in the Ocean # 7 was the last volume of a literary magazine Kesey himself conceived in 1973 and thereafter sporadically self-published. Each Spit in the Ocean volume featured a different theme and editor; the last Kesey-published edition, Spit in the Ocean # 6, had been released over 20 years before, in 1981.
McClanahan married Katherine Andrews in 1957 and they had three children: Kristin, Caitlin, and Jess. In 1975, he married Cia White (daughter of journalist and writer William S. White) and they had two children: Annie June and William. McClanahan currently resides in Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 63rd largest in the US. Known as the "Thoroughbred City" and the "Horse Capital of the World", it is located in the heart of Kentucky's Bluegrass region...
with his third wife, Hilda. He is active in Kentucky literary circles and can occasionally be seen, in full "Captain Kentucky" regalia, guest-lecturing to University of Kentucky
University of Kentucky
The University of Kentucky, also known as UK, is a public co-educational university and is one of the state's two land-grant universities, located in Lexington, Kentucky...
creative writing workshops.
Writing
McClanahan has been a writer since the mid 1950s with short stories, essays, and reviews in such magazines as EsquireEsquire (magazine)
Esquire is a men's magazine, published in the U.S. by the Hearst Corporation. Founded in 1932, it flourished during the Great Depression under the guidance of founder and editor Arnold Gingrich.-History:...
, Playboy
Playboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
, and Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
. In 1972 and 1974, he received Playboys award for nonfiction.
Known for his rollicking, good-naturedly crude humor and a creatively extensive vocabulary, McClanahan, along with contemporary authors Wendell Berry
Wendell Berry
Wendell Berry is an American man of letters, academic, cultural and economic critic, and farmer. He is a prolific author of novels, short stories, poems, and essays...
, James Baker Hall
James Baker Hall
James Baker Hall was an American poet, novelist, photographer and teacher.- Biography :James Baker Hall was born in Lexington, Kentucky in 1935. He was raised in a southern family of means and social standing, only to have a family scandal turn tragic when he was eight years old...
, Bobbie Ann Mason
Bobbie Ann Mason
Bobbie Ann Mason is an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and literary critic from Kentucky.With four siblings Mason grew up on her family's dairy farm outside of Mayfield, Kentucky. As a child she loved to read, so her parents, Wilburn and Christina Mason, always made sure she had...
and fellow Prankster Gurney Norman
Gurney Norman
Gurney Norman is an American novelist, documentarian, and professor.-Biography:Gurney Norman was born in Grundy, Virginia in 1937...
, is considered a member of the "Fab Five" group of Kentucky writers.
The Natural Man had its inception in 1961 and was finally published in 1983 to great acclaim. McClanahan has frequently thanked Northern Kentucky University for firing him as it allowed him the opportunity to finish the novel, which was completely rewritten from first to third person.
Publications
- One Lord, One Faith, One Cornbread, Fred Nelson & Ed McClanahan (eds.) (Garden City, NY: Anchor Books), 1975. ISBN 978-0-385-04220-8
- The Natural Man (New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux), 1983. ISBN 978-0-374-21969-7
- Famous People I Have Known (New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux), 1985. ISBN 978-0-374-15329-8
- A Congress of Wonders (Washington, DC: Counterpoint), 1996. ISBN 978-1-887178-12-9
- My Vita, If You Will: The Uncollected Ed McClanahan (Washington, DC: Counterpoint), 1998. ISBN 978-1-887178-77-8
- Fondelle, or, The Whore with a Heart of Gold: A Report from the Field (Monterey, KY: Larkspur Press), 2002.
- A Foreign Correspondence (Tucson: Sylph Publications), 2002. ISBN 978-0-9673004-4-3
- Spit in the Ocean #7: All About Ken Kesey (New York: Penguin Books), 2003. ISBN 978-0-14-200363-3
- O The Clear Moment (Berkeley, CA: Counterpoint), 2008. ISBN 978-1-58243-430-8