McLoone, George H., 1945-

John Cheever was born in Quincy, Mass., to Frederick Lincoln Cheever and Mary Devereaux Liley Cheever on May 27, 1912. His father was in the shoe manufacturing business until the 1929 stock market crash when he lost his job. Cheever's mother managed to support the family by operating both a gift and a dress shop. Cheever's formal education ended in 1930 when, at age seventeen, he was expelled from the Thayer Academy in nearby South Braintree for poor grades and smoking. This incident inspired him to write his first published story, 'Expelled'. He sent it to Malcolm Cowley, then literary editor of 'The new republic', which published it on Oct. 1, 1930. Cheever lived with his brother Fred from 1930 unitil 1934, when he was admitted to the Yaddo artists' colony in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. That same year 'The New Yorker' published 'Brooklyn rooming house', the first of the 119 Cheever stories they would publish. In 1941, he married Mary Winterniz, who was working for his literary agent, Maxim Lieber, at the time. In the years that followed Cheever's work was published in many magazines, including 'The new republic', 'The Atlantic monthly', and 'Collier's'. His first collection of short stories, 'The way some people live', was published in 1943. On May 7, 1942, Cheever enlisted in the army, and served in the military for the next four years. In 1951 he received a Guggenheim Fellowship, which enabled him to become a full time writer. His first novel, 'The Wapshot chronicle' (1957), won the National Book Award in 1958. The success of this novel, along with a second Guggenheim Fellowship, enabled Cheever to purchase a home in Ossining, N.Y., where he would remain for the rest of his life. As Cheever became more successful his addiction to alcohol became more acute and his productivity waned. In 1969 he published the novel 'Bullet park' to mixed reviews. The hostile critical reaction to this novel caused Cheever to fall even deeper into alcoholism and, after being detoxified twice at Phelps Memorial Hospital, he checked himself into the Smithers Alcohol Rehabilitation Center in 1975. Cheever achieved complete sobriety and the publication of one of his best works, 'Falconer' (1977), soon followed. After the critical acclaim and financial success of 'Falconer', Cheever was the recipient of a number of important awards. He was granted an honorary doctorate by Harvard University, as well as awarded the Pulitzer Prize for fiction and the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1979 for the 'Stories of John Cheever' (1978). After completing his final work, 'Oh what a paradise it seems', John Cheever died of kidney and bone cancer at his home in Ossining on June 18, 1982.

George McLoone was born on Aug. 14, 1945 in Grosse Point, Mich. Most of his youth was spent in Phoenix, Ariz., where his father practiced medicine. McLoone became interested in Cheever while still in high school. McLoone's family subscribed to 'The New Yorker', which was frequently publishing Cheever's stories. It was by reading 'The New Yorker' that McLoone was exposed to Cheever's work. After attending a Jesuit high school in Phoenix, McLoone received a scholarship to Georgetown University, and it was there that his interest in Cheever grew. Although originally a pre-med student, McLoone soon returned to his primary interest, English. McLoone made it his goal to become as knowledgeable as he could be about at least one writer. Because of his previous exposure to Cheever, he seemed like the natural choice. His American Literature professor, Richard Rupp, encouraged his interest. Later, while writing a paper on Cheever, McLoone had the idea of writing the author in order to obtain a direct quote that would support his thesis. Much to his surprise, Cheever wrote back. During the next eight years, Cheever and McLoone wrote to each other a number of times. McLoone also visited Cheever at his home in Ossining, N.Y., although a close personal relationship never really developed. McLoone graduated from Georgetown University in 1967 with a B.A. in English. He went on to earn his master's degree in English from the University of Virginia in 1968 and his doctorate from George Washington University in 1982. McLoone has spent thirty-two years teaching college level English, most recently at Northern Virginia Community College. He has devoted much of his academic career to the study of early modern literature, with an emphasis on John Milton. McLoone is the author of several publications on Milton, including 'Milton's poetry of Independence' (1999).

...