Tevis, Walter S.

Walter Tevis was born in San Francisco, California on February 28, 1928. He married a teacher, Jamie Griggs, in 1952, and has 2 children, William Thomas and Julia Ann McGory. He received his A.B. degree in 1949 and M.A. degree in 1954 (both in English) from the University of Kentucky. In 1960 he received his M.F.A. (in English - Creative Writing) degree from the State University of Iowa. Tevis has been writer-teacher since 1949. He has taught in rural Kentucky high schools, at the University of Kentucky, at Southern Connecticut State College, and at Ohio University. He has been named University Professor at Ohio University and has been given the Screen Writers' Annual Award in 1961 for the screenplay adaptation of The Hustler. He has also received the Little Green Man Citation for his novel, The Man Who Fell to Earth. Walter Tevis is the author of numerous magazine pieces and novels. The Hustler and The Man Who Fell to Earth are his most notable novels. Others include Mockingbird, Far From Home, The Queen's Gambit, The Steps of the Sun, and The Color of Money. His magazine pieces have appeared in Playboy, Atlantic Monthly, Esquire, and Omni. On August 9, 1984, Walter Tevis died of lung cancer. He had been residing in New York City.

From the guide to the Walter S. Tevis papers, 1950-1970, (Ohio University)