Jenkins, McKay 1963–

PERSONAL: Born February 1, 1963, in Middletown, CT; son of Donald C. (an investment adviser) and Carla D. (a television producer) Jenkins; married Katherine Hinckley, June 13, 1998; children: two. Education: Amherst College, B.A., 1985; Columbia University, M.S., 1987; Princeton University, Ph.D., 1996. Religion: Buddhist. Hobbies and other interests: Hiking, canoeing, cycling, cross-country skiing, boat building.

ADDRESSES: Home—Baltimore, MD. Office—Department of English, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716. Agent—Neil Olson, Donadio & Olson, 121 W. 27th St., Ste. 704, New York, NY 10001. E-mail—mckay@udel.edu.

CAREER: Writer, journalist, and educator. Annapolis Capital, Annapolis, MD, staff writer, 1987–88; Seattle Times, Seattle, WA, staff writer, 1988; Atlanta Constitution, Atlanta, GA, staff writer, 1988–92; University of Delaware, Newark, assistant professor and member of Program in Journalism, 1996–2000, associate professor of English, then Cornelius A. Tilghman Professor of English, 2000–.

WRITINGS:

The South in Black and White: Race, Sex, and Literature in the 1940s, University of North Carolina Press (Chapel Hill, NC), 1999.

(Editor) The Peter Matthiessen Reader, Vintage (New York, NY), 2000.

The White Death: Tragedy and Heroism in an Avalanche Zone, Random House (New York, NY), 2000.

The Last Ridge: The Epic Story of the U.S. Army's 10th Mountain Division and the Assault on Hitler's Europe, Random House (New York, NY), 2003.

Bloody Falls of the Coppermine: Madness, Murder, and the Collision of Cultures in the Arctic, 1913, Random House (New York, NY), 2005.

Contributor to periodicals, including Outside, Outdoor Explorer, and Orion.

SIDELIGHTS: Journalist and educator McKay Jenkins has authored several books about a wide range of topics. In The South in Black and White: Race, Sex, and Literature in the 1940s, Jenkins writes about how ideas of race shaped not only the works of Southern writers, such as William Alexander Percy and Carson McCullers, but also the entire Southern mind. John Herbert Roper, writing in the Journal of Southern History, noted that the book "should be bought, discussed, argued about, and taught."

The White Death: Tragedy and Heroism in an Avalanche Zone tells the story of five mountaineers who died in an avalanche in 1969 while climbing Glacier National Park's Mount Cleveland. "This book does rumble and move," wrote Holly Morris in the New York Times Book Review. Morris went on to note that the narrative "zeroes in on our relationship with the natural world, rather than just merely standing in awe of its power or making this tragedy another notch in the adventure-as-commodity belt."

In his book The Last Ridge: The Epic Story of the U.S. Army's 10th Mountain Division and the Assault on Hitler's Europe, the author focuses on the training and World War II efforts of an elite mountain army division specially trained in the Vail, Colorado, region to travel, fight, and survive in the mountainous snows of Europe. James Gorman, writing in the New York Times, commented that "Jenkins's book … is full of the doings of New England blue bloods before it becomes drenched in young soldiers' blood."

Bloody Falls of the Coppermine: Madness, Murder, and the Collision of Cultures in the Arctic, 1913 relates the true story of two priests with little outdoor experience who head for the Canadian Arctic to convert Eskimos. Although they eventually arrive at their destination, they are subsequently thrown out of the Eskimo village, never to be seen again. The book then follows the harrowing adventures of two Canadian Mounties who traveled more than 3,000 miles to find out the truth. They eventually arrest two Eskimos for murder. "Fans of true crime or survival adventure will find much to enjoy in this compelling book," wrote Kathy Tewell in the School Library Journal. A Kirkus Reviews contributor called the book "an appealing read for Dragnet fans and anthropology buffs."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Journal of Southern History, February, 2001, John Herbert Roper, review of The South in Black and White: Race, Sex, and Literature in the 1940s, p. 211.

Kirkus Reviews, December 1, 2004, review of Bloody Falls of the Coppermine: Madness, Murder, and the Collision of Cultures in the Arctic, 1913, p. 1133.

New York Times, December 7, 2004, James Gorman, review of The Last Ridge: The Epic Story of the U.S. Army's 10th Mountain Division and the Assault on Hitler's Europe.

New York Times Book Review, February 27, 2000, Holly Morris, "Snowball from Hell: The Story of an Avalanche and Western Man's Desire to Conquer Nature," review of The White Death: Tragedy and Heroism in an Avalanche Zone, p. 21.

School Library Journal, April, 2005, Kathy Tewell, review of Bloody Falls of the Coppermine, p. 163.

ONLINE

Rhode Island College Web site, http://www.ric.edu/ (October 16, 2006), Kenn Harper, review of Bloody Falls of the Coppermine.

University of Delaware Web site, http://www.english.udel.edu/ (October 16, 2006), faculty profile of author.