Markfield, Wallace 1926-2002
MARKFIELD, Wallace 1926-2002
OBITUARY NOTICE—See index for CA sketch: Born August 12, 1926, in Brooklyn, NY; died from complications from a heart attack May 24, 2002, in Roslyn, NY. Novelist. Markfield was a popular fiction writer whose unique ability to mix comedy and tragedy sometimes had critics comparing him to Irish author James Joyce. He graduated from Brooklyn College with a B.A. in 1947, and also attended graduate school at New York University for two years. One of his first jobs out of college was as a literary critic for New Leader magazine from 1954 to 1955, which was followed by ten years as a writer for the Anti-Defamation League in New York City. Markfield's first novel, To an Early Grave (1964), earned him wide praise and a Guggenheim fellowship; it was also adapted as the 1968 film Bye Bye Braverman starring George Segal and Jack Warden. Though Markfield was not prolific, he continued to publish quality novels such as Teitelbaum's Widow (1970) and Radical Surgery (1991), as well as the short-story collection Multiple Orgasms (1977). When he was not writing, he was teaching writing, and was an assistant professor at San Francisco State University from 1966 to 1968 and at Queens College of the City University of New York from 1971 to 1973.
OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:
PERIODICALS
Los Angeles Times, June 1, 2002, p. B19.
New York Times, May 31, 2002, p. C14.
Washington Post, June 2, 2002, p. C8.