Jean Rikhoff

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Jean Rikhoff

Born
Chicago, Illinois
Occupation author, editor and teacher
Nationality American
Writing period 1961-1986
Genres historical fiction, children's literature, feminist literature
Notable work(s) Timble Trilogy (Dear Ones All, Voyage In, Voyage Out, and Rites of Passage) and the Trilogy of the North Country (Buttes landing, One of the Raymonds, and Sweetwater)
Spouse(s) Mark Branson
Children Allison and Jeffrey Branson

Jean Rikhoff is a female American author and editor. She is best known for two trilogies that she wrote: the Timble Trilogy, made up of Dear Ones All, Voyage In, Voyage Out, and Rites of Passage, and the trilogy of the North Country, consisting of Buttes landing, One of the Raymonds, and The Sweetwater. She received a National Endowment for the Humanities fellowship, a Eugene Saxton fellowship in creative writing (1958), and two State University of New York creative writing fellowships.[1][2]

Jean Rikhoff was born in Chicago, Illinois, and grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana. Here she attended a covenant elementary school. As soon possible she escaped her environment and abusive father, attending Mount Holyoke College and majoring in English. She attended grad school at Wesleyan University, majoring in English and philosophy.[1] Her dissertation was on The Classical Imagery in Christopher Marlowe's Plays.

Rikhoff then left for Europe where she traveled with her first husband and taught for seven years. During this time she wrote her first novel, Dear Ones All, in Seville. Back in the US, she settled with her young daughter in the Adirondack Mountains, first living in Bolton Landing.[1]

In 1954 she established Quixote, a literary magazine, which she also edited.[1] Rikhoff described the magazine as a financial failure, yet continued to publish until 1966 out of altruism towards writers and a profound love of literature.[3] In Quixote she wrote an annual report called "Troubles of a Small Magazine." The collected reports were published by Grosset & Dunlap as the Quixote Anthology, along with some of the works in the magazine.

In the meantime, she had started to work with literary agent Barthold Fles,[4] who was of great support to her creative writing. Rikhoff remarried and spent 20 years on a horse farm in West Hebron, where she wrote some of her best known books. In 1983 she co-founded the Loft Press in Glens Falls, for which she served as publisher and editor of the Glens Falls Review.[1] She also worked as an editorial assistant for Gourmet Magazine.[2]

Rikhoff took up teaching again, now at the State University of New York's Adirondack Community College.[5] Among others, she served a faculty advisor to Expressions, the literary magazine of the Adirondack students.[2] At the time of her retirement she was the chair of the English Department at Adirondack College. For her teaching and academic leadership, she won the Adirondack Community College President's Award for Academic Excellence (1990) and State University of New York Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching (1992).

Contents

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] Books written

[edit] Books edited

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Jean Rikhoff" (page 153-198), in Winter KH: The Woman in the Mountain. State University of New York Press, 1989. ISBN 0887068863.
  2. ^ a b c Rikhoff J: David Smith, I Remember. Glens Falls, New York: Loft Press, 1984, back matter. ISBN 9129930014.
  3. ^ "Articles of Dissent" (review of The Nonconformers). Manas 12 (28) (1962-07-11): 6-7. Accessed 2008-05-13.
  4. ^ "Agent Barthold Fles to retire to artists' colony near Amsterdam." Publishers Weekly 228 (1985-11-29): 14.
  5. ^ http://www.adirondackcenterforwriting.org/writers.htm. Accessed 2008-05-29.
  6. ^ Saal RW: "The Timbles' Troubled Reunion; Dear Ones All." New York Times 1961-02-05: BR40. Accessed 2008-05-14.
  7. ^ Prescott O: "Books of The Times." New York Times 1961-02-24: 27. Accessed 2008-05-14.
  8. ^ Levin M: "New & Novel." New York Times 1973-03-18: 386. Accessed 2008-05-13.
  9. ^ "Children...and Ourselves: The Vision of Reality." Manas 27 (16) (1974-04-17): 10-11. Accessed 2008-05-13.
  10. ^ Frakes JR: "Actions and Passions; The Toll." New York Times 1974-03-24: BR36. Accessed 2008-05-14.
  11. ^ de Usabel FE: "Where Were You in '76? (Book Review)." Library Journal 103 (19) (1978-11-01): 2262. ISSN 03630277