- Matthew Bruccoli
Matthew Joseph Bruccoli (
August 21 1931 –June 4 2008 Lee Higgins, " [http://www.thestate.com/local/story/425132.html Matthew J. Bruccoli: ‘He was a teacher above all’] ", "The State",June 5 2008 . Retrieved onJune 5 2008 ] " [http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jEBgLtX4fDt8-v22ar9mY-Hz7VEAD9143U080 Renowned scholar on 'Gatsby' author dies at 76] ",Associated Press viaGoogle ,June 5 2008 . Retrieved onJune 5 2008 ] ) was an American professor of English at theUniversity of South Carolina . He was the preeminent expert onF. Scott Fitzgerald . He also wrote scholarship on writers such asErnest Hemingway ,Thomas Wolfe andJohn O'Hara , and was editor of theDictionary of Literary Biography .Bruccoli's interest in Fitzgerald began in 1947 when he heard a radio broadcast of Fitzgerald's short story "
The Diamond as Big as the Ritz ."Caroline Lord, " [http://www.shortstoryreview.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=19&Itemid=40 Interview with Matthew Bruccoli] ", "Short Story", Fall 2006. Retrieved onJune 5 2008 .] That week he tracked down a copy of "The Great Gatsby ", "and I have been reading it ever since," he told interviewers.Bruccoli graduated from the prestigious
Bronx High School of Science in 1949,Yale University in 1953 and attained a Master's degree and doctorate from theUniversity of Virginia in 1960. Bruccoli, who also taught at the University of Virginia and theOhio State University , spent nearly four decades teaching at theUniversity of South Carolina . He lived inColumbia, South Carolina , where, according to hisNew York Times obit, he "cut a dash on campus, instantly recognizable by his vintage red Mercedes convertible, Brooks Brothers suits, Groucho mustache and bristling crew cut that dated to his Yale days. His untamed Bronx accent also set him apart" (Grimes).Over the course of his career, he authored over 50 books on F. Scott Fitzgerald and other literary figures. His 1981 biography of Fitzgerald, "Some Sort of Epic Grandeur: The Life of F. Scott Fitzgerald", is considered the standard Fitzgerald biography. He has edited many of Fitzgerald's works, from "
This Side of Paradise " to Fitzgerald's unfinished final novel, "The Love of the Last Tycoon ". Bruccoli has also edited Scott's wifeZelda Fitzgerald 's only novel "Save Me the Waltz ".While studying Fitzgerald, Bruccoli and his wife Arlyn began to collect all manner of Fitzgerald memorabilia. Bruccoli even owned the original of "Celestial Eyes", the original cover art by
Francis Cugat which appeared on the first edition, and most modern editions, of "The Great Gatsby". In 1969, Bruccoli befriended F. Scott and Zelda's daughter Frances "Scottie" Fitzgerald. In 1976, Bruccoli and the Fitzgeralds' daughter Scottie (as Scottie Fitzgerald Smith) published "The Romantic Egoists", from the scrapbooks that F. Scott and Zelda had maintained throughout their lives of photographs and book reviews. Later in life Bruccoli and his wife donated their collection to the Thomas Cooper Library at USC. The collection is valued at nearly $2 million.Along with
Dashiell Hammett scholarRichard Layman and businessman C.E. Frazer Clark Jr., Bruccoli launched theDictionary of Literary Biography . The 400-volume reference work contains biographies of more than 12,000 literary figures from antiquity to modern times. He continued working at the university until being diagnosed with abrain tumor in 2008.References
Grimes, William. "Matthew J. Bruccoli, 76, Scholar, Dies; Academia’s Fitzgerald Record Keeper."
New York Times . 6 June 2008. accessed 6 August 2008. [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/06/arts/06bruccoli.html]External links
* [http://www.cas.sc.edu/engl/faculty/faculty_pages/bruccoli/bruccoli.html Bio at USC]
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