Stacton, David, 1925-1968

David Derek Stacton (Erik), novelist and poet, was born in Nevada in 1925. He is known for thirteen historical novels on topics including Napoleon, Nefertiti, and Lincoln's assassination. The books received critical acclaim, although Stacton received more praise in Europe than in the United States. Stacton died of a stroke in Denmark, in January, 1968.

From the description of Papers, 1960-1967. (University of New Mexico-Main Campus). WorldCat record id: 48454555

From the guide to the David Stacton Papers, 1960-1967, (University of New Mexico. Center for Southwest Research.)

From the guide to the David Stacton Photograph Collection, 1950-1973, (Center for Southwest Research, University of New Mexico.)

David Stacton was born on April 25, 1925 in Minden, Nevada. Raised in Nevada and Northern California, he considered the western frontier landscape to be a shaping influence on his artistic and spiritual sensibility. Stacton attended Stanford University from 1941-1943 and graduated from University of California, Berkeley in 1951. After graduation, he traveled in Europe, and later split his time between Europe, Colorado, and California. He received Guggenheim fellowships in 1960-1961 and 1966-1967, and a National Endowment for the Arts grant in 1968. Stacton also taught writing as Glasgow Visiting Professor at the University of Washington and Lee in Lexington, Virginia, in 1965-1966. In 1963, Time magazine listed Stacton as one of the ten most promising American novelists, describing his work as "masses of epigrams marinated in a stinging mixture of metaphysics and blood," and suggesting that "something similar might have been the result if the Duc de la Rochefoucauld had written novels with plots suggested by Jack London" ("The Sustaining Stream," Time, 2/1/1963). In addition to novels, Stacton also wrote short stories and poems, some of which appeared in print, and published four historical works. Stacton also wrote several pulp novels, often with gay themes, for Ace and other paperback publishers, including Muscle Boy and D is for Delinquent as Bud Clifton, and the Westerns Navarro and Ride the Man Down as Carse Boyd. His other pseudonyms include David West and David Derekson. Stacton died of natural causes in Fredensborg, Denmark, on January 19, 1968.

From the description of David Stacton papers : additions, 1944-1992 (bulk 1950-1970). (University of California, Berkeley). WorldCat record id: 122354984