Beck, Patricia, 1924-1978

Author, Poet. Patricia (Pat) Beck was born in New York City, 1924. Her family lived in Europe in the 1930's, then in New York and New Jersey. She attended Bennington College (VT), 1943-46, where her advisor was poet Theodore Roethke, and she studied writing under W.H. Auden and Allan Seager, as well as art and psychology. After her mother's death in 1946 she suffered from severe depression and spent a short time in a psychiatric unit where she underwent shock therapy. Beck continued to suffer from depression periodically throughout her life. In 1952 she married Thomas Maulding, a blind pianist and they resided in Bennington, VT. They were divorced in 1959. She resumed school at Bennington in the early 1960's and studied writing under Bernard Malamud. She eventually published two short stories, and a volume of her stories was published posthumously. In 1976 her leg was amputated due to complications from diabetes, and a year later she lost her other leg. She continued writing and painting until 1978 when she committed suicide by an insulin overdose.

From the description of Patrica Beck Papers, 1936-1986 (bulk 1940-1978). (Smith College). WorldCat record id: 28416687

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