Jean Rikhoff facts for kids

Jean Marie Rikhoff (born May 28, 1926 – died June 19, 2018) was an American writer and editor. She is famous for two sets of three books, called trilogies. These are the Timble Trilogy (Dear Ones All, Voyage In, Voyage Out, and Rites of Passage) and the North Country trilogy (Buttes Landing, One of the Raymonds, and The Sweetwater).

Jean Rikhoff earned several important awards for her writing. She received a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities and another for creative writing called the Eugene Saxton fellowship. She also got two creative writing fellowships from the State University of New York. Two of her books were chosen as special "Book of the Month" selections. Her autobiography, Earth, Air, Fire, and Water: A Memoir, was named the Best Memoir of 2011 by the Adirondack Center for Writing.

Jean Rikhoff's Life and Work

Jean Rikhoff was born in Chicago, Illinois, and grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana. She studied English at Mount Holyoke College, graduating in 1948. She then continued her studies in English and philosophy at Wesleyan University.

After her studies, Rikhoff moved to Europe. She traveled with her first husband and taught there for seven years. During this time, she wrote her first novel, Dear Ones All, while living in Seville, Spain. When she returned to the United States, she settled with her young daughter in the Adirondack Mountains in New York, first living in Bolton Landing.

Starting a Literary Magazine

In 1954, Jean Rikhoff started her own literary magazine called Quixote. She was also the editor of the magazine. She once said that the magazine didn't make much money, but she kept publishing it until 1966. In Quixote, she wrote a yearly report called "Troubles of a Small Magazine." Later, these reports were collected and published as Quixote Anthology by Grosset & Dunlap, along with other selected writings from the magazine.

Writing and Teaching Career

While working on her magazine, Jean Rikhoff also started working with a literary agent named Barthold Fles. He helped her a lot with her creative writing. She later remarried and lived for 20 years on a horse farm in West Hebron. This is where she wrote some of her most well-known books.

In 1983, she helped start the Loft Press in Glens Falls. She was the publisher and editor for their magazine, the Glens Falls Review. She also worked as an editorial assistant for Gourmet Magazine, which is a magazine about food.

Rikhoff also went back to teaching. She taught at State University of New York's Adirondack Community College. She was a faculty advisor for Expressions, which was the literary magazine for students at Adirondack College. When she retired, she was the head of the English Department there. For her excellent teaching and leadership, she received the Adirondack Community College President's Award for Academic Excellence in 1990. She also won the State University of New York Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1992.

Jean Rikhoff passed away on June 19, 2018.

Books Written by Jean Rikhoff

• 1961 - Dear Ones All
• 1961 - Writing About the Frontier: Mark Twain
• 1963 - Voyage In, Voyage Out
• 1966 - Rites of Passage
• 1968 - Robert E. Lee, Soldier of the South
• 1973 - Buttes Landing (Book of the Month alternate)
• 1974 - One of the Raymonds (Book of the Month alternate)
• 1976 - The Sweetwater
• 1979 - Where Were You in '76?
• 1984 - David Smith, I Remember
• 2011 - Earth, Air, Fire, and Water: A Memoir (won Best Memoir 2011 by Adirondack Center for Writing)

Books Edited by Jean Rikhoff

• 1961 - Quixote Anthology
• 1986 - North Country Anthology (co-editor)