VIGODA, David 1946-

PERSONAL:

Born May 18, 1946, in Brooklyn, NY; son of William Vigoda (a comic book illustrator) and Anita (Rinzberg) Shapiro; married Elizabeth Eson (an artist), June 22, 1969; children: Benjamin William Hemingway. Education: University of Chicago, B.A., 1968. Hobbies and other interests: T'ai chi, foreign languages.

ADDRESSES:

Home—21 Aviation Rd., Albany, NY 12205. E-mail—vigoda@whyitsgreat.com.

CAREER:

David Vigoda Associates, Albany, NY, principal, 1983—. Why It's Great (writing workshop), director, 2003.

MEMBER:

PEN American Center.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Research fellow, University of Utah, 1972; creative writing fellow, National Endowment for the Arts, 1981.

WRITINGS:

Song of the Hunt (play), produced in Chicago, IL, 1969.

Unfinished (play), produced in London, England, 1970.

Nucleus (novel), Baronet Publishing (New York, NY), 1980.

The Samson Concerto (radio play), broadcast by National Public Radio, 1981.

Call Me by My Name (novel), 1981.

Exhalations of the Intellect (short stories), 1989.

Rebels Outlaws Spies Dreamers Prisoners Strangers (short stories), 1990.

The Innocent Alone Crave Justice (short stories), 1993.

Against Us, Tyranny (short stories), 1993.

Toward the Annihilation of Distance (short stories), 1994.

Family Values (play), produced in Chelsea, NY, 1998.

Plinth (novel), 1999.

Annihilating Distance: Selected Stories, Collioure Books (Albany, NY), 2003.

Author of additional short stories.

WORK IN PROGRESS:

Re-enchanting Nature, a novel; The Nature of Artifice: How Biotechnology Challenges Our Beliefs about the Natural and the Unnatural, nonfiction; research on the relationship between science and the sacred, with emphasis on bio-technology and pre-modern philosophy and religion.

SIDELIGHTS:

David Vigoda told CA: "Life is astonishing; writing is the best way I know how to ponder it. The primary theme or feeling that runs through my work is the experience of distance. Yet my fundamental belief is in the possibility of constructive change, and so I have sought to infuse my work with the counter-theme to distance, which is the struggle to overcome it. I can't help ruminating about what's wrong with the world and what might be done to make less of a mess of things. I don't recall when the phrase 'the annihilation of distance' first occurred to me, but it was many years ago, and it still encapsulates for me the essential human task. Not all my protagonists succeed, but most of them try."