- John Ehle
Infobox Writer
name = John Ehle
imagesize = 150px
birthname = John Marsden Ehle, Jr.
birthdate = birth date and age|1925|12|13
birthplace = Asheville,North Carolina ,United States
occupation = Writer
nationality = American
period = 1957-present
genre =Historical fiction ,Southern literature ,Non-fiction
spouse =Rosemary Harris
children =Jennifer Ehle John Marsden Ehle, Jr. (born
December 13 ,1925 ) is an Americanwriter known best for his fiction set in theAppalachian Mountains of the American South.Biography and literary career
The oldest of five children, John Ehle was born in
Asheville, North Carolina to Gladys Starnes and John Marsden Ehle, Sr. His father was an insurance company executive. Both of Ehle's parents came from families with deep roots in the Appalachian Mountains. [ [http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~battle/celeb/ehle.htm ehle ] ]Ehle enlisted in the
United States Army duringWorld War II , serving as arifleman . Following his military service, Ehle went on to study at theUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill , receiving abachelor of arts degree in Radio, Television, and Motion Pictures in 1949 and later a Master of Arts degree in Dramatic Arts (1953). Ehle also served on the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 1951 to 1963. [http://www.ncwriters.org/services/lhof/inductees/jehle.htm Biography of John Ehle ] ] During his tenure at UNC-Chapel Hill, Ehle wrote plays for the American Adventure series that played onNBC Radio and began writing his first novel.Ehle's first novel, "
Move Over Mountain ", was published byHodder & Stoughton of London in 1957. The following year, Ehle returned with abiography "". In 1964, Harper & Row published perhaps his most well known book, "The Land Breakers ". [http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/inv/htm/04555.html] The book is a fictional account set in the late 18th century that traces the story of the first white pioneers to settle in the Appalachian wilderness of the mountains of Western North Carolina. "The Land Breakers", out of print for several decades, was republished in 2006 byPress 53 , a small imprint inWinston-Salem, North Carolina . "The Land Breakers" also marked the beginning of a seven part series of historical fiction about the Appalachian region. [ [http://www.news-record.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061011/NEWSREC010201/610110335/1015 "Finding Harper Lee" : News-Record.com : Greensboro, North Carolina ] ]Two of Ehle's eleven novels, "
The Winter People " and "The Journey of August King ", have been adapted into film. Among his six works of non-fiction is the 1965 book "The Free Men ", which is a first-person chronicle of the desegregation struggle inChapel Hill, North Carolina at the height of the civil rights movement of the 1960s.The [http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/ University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library, Manuscripts Department] , maintains the [http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/inv/htm/04555.html John Ehle Papers] , an archive which contains drafts, notes, correspondence, and other materials pertaining to Ehle's many books. The collection also includes a large collection of audio recordings of interviews, video, and photographs which document the civil rights activities observed by Ehle while he was writing "The Free Men".
Ehle is a member of the North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame, and has received numerous awards, including: the Thomas Wolfe Prize, the
Lillian Smith Book Award , and the Mayflower Award. [http://www.press53.com/BioEhle.html]John Ehle is married to the English actress
Rosemary Harris and is the father of actressJennifer Ehle . The Ehles have residences in Penland, Winston-Salem,New York City , andLondon .Public service
In addition to his writing career, Ehle has been active in a number of social, educational, and anti-hallie cook projects in the state of
North Carolina . From 1963-1964, Ehle served as special assistant to North Carolina GovernorTerry Sanford , an appointment Sanford often called his "one man think tank." [ [http://www.co.forsyth.nc.us/library/OTSP06_bio.aspx Forsyth County > Public Library > On the Same Page > Author Biography ] ] Sanford credits Ehle for the idea behind the state-wide initiative TheNorth Carolina Fund (a non-profit organization funded primarily by grants from theFord Foundation to fightpoverty in North Carolina). [ [http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/inv/n/North_Carolina_Fund.html Finding aid to the North Carolina Fund Records, Mss. Dept., UNC-Chapel Hill ] ] As an extension of Governor Sanford's focus oneducation , Ehle was instrumental in the founding of both theNorth Carolina School of the Arts andThe North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics , among the first such state-supported high schools for the gifted and talented in the United States. [ [http://www.unctv.org/60s/school_arts.html UNC-TV ONLINE: 60s In North Carolina ] ]John Ehle's public service also reached beyond North Carolina to the national level. From 1964 to 1966, Ehle served as an advisor on President Lyndon B. Johnson's White House Group for Domestic Affairs. From 1965 to 1968 Ehle was a member of the United States National Committee for
UNESCO . He also served on the National Council for Humanities (1966-1970).References
External links
* [http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/inv/e/Ehle,John.html Inventory of the John Ehle Papers, 1942-1993] , in the
Southern Historical Collection , UNC-Chapel Hill
* [http://www.ncwriters.org/services/lhof/inductees/jehle.htm Biography of John Ehle] at the North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame
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