Louis D. Rubin Jr. facts for kids
Louis Decimus Rubin Jr. (born November 19, 1923 – died November 16, 2013) was an important American literary expert, teacher, publisher, and writer. He is known for helping to make Southern literature a recognized field of study. He also taught and guided many writers at Hollins College and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He founded Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, a publishing company famous for books by Southern writers. Louis D. Rubin Jr. passed away in Pittsboro, North Carolina. He is buried in Charleston, South Carolina.
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Louis Rubin's Early Life and School
Louis D. Rubin Jr. was born in Charleston, South Carolina. He was the oldest of three children. His father owned an electrical supply business. His father was also known for predicting the weather.
Louis Rubin studied at the College of Charleston for two years. Then, he joined the U.S. Army during World War II. He studied Italian at Yale University. He also worked as a journalist for a military newspaper. After the war, he earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Richmond in 1946. He later received his master's and Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University.
Rubin wrote about his childhood in Charleston. He also wrote about growing up Jewish in the American South. Charleston was changing a lot during his youth. It was becoming more modern and attracting tourists. These changes made him think about the differences between old Charleston and modern America.
Journalism and Early Teaching Career
Louis Rubin first wanted to be a journalist. He wrote about local news and sports for newspapers in Charleston. He also worked for the Army newspaper. After the war, he worked as a reporter and editor. He worked for papers in New Jersey and Virginia. He also worked for the Associated Press.
He felt that his job at the Associated Press was not creative enough. So, in 1948, he used his GI Bill benefits. He enrolled at Johns Hopkins University to study writing.
At Johns Hopkins, he married Eva Redfield in 1951. He also worked part-time as a newspaper editor. He studied with famous writers and historians. He was also the editor of The Hopkins Review. He taught creative writing, and one of his early students was the novelist John Barth.
In 1953, he co-edited a book called Southern Renascence: The Literature of the Modern South. This book helped define the important writers of the modern South. These writers included William Faulkner and Eudora Welty. After earning his Ph.D., he taught at the University of Pennsylvania.
For a short time in 1956 and 1957, Rubin returned to journalism. He wrote editorials for the Richmond News Leader. This newspaper strongly supported segregation. Rubin had different political views. He was only given non-political topics to write about. This experience made him think more critically about how Southern writers dealt with race in their stories.
Years at Hollins College and UNC–Chapel Hill
In 1957, Louis Rubin joined the faculty at Hollins College. This school is now Hollins University. He quickly became a full professor and head of the English Department. He invited famous authors like Eudora Welty to visit the campus. He also started the Hollins Critic literary journal. In 1960, he created a graduate program for creative writing. This program was open to both men and women.
Rubin taught at Hollins from 1957 to 1967. During this time, many women from the school wanted to work in the arts and sciences. He guided many of them. Some of his students became famous novelists like Lee Smith and Annie Dillard. He also published important books about Southern writers.
In 1967, Rubin moved to Chapel Hill, North Carolina. He joined the English Department at the University of North Carolina. He became a distinguished professor there. He continued to be a leading expert on the American South. He helped start the Southern Literary Journal. He also helped create the Society for the Study of Southern Literature.
His books, like A Bibliographical Guide to the Study of Southern Literature (1969), helped make Southern literature a strong field of study. Many of his students at UNC–Chapel Hill became well-known scholars. He also taught creative writing to future novelists like Jill McCorkle and Kaye Gibbons. He retired from teaching in 1989.
Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
In 1982, Louis Rubin and his former student, Shannon Ravenel, started Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill. This was an independent publishing company. At first, their offices were in Rubin's garage and Ravenel's home.
Even with money challenges, the company successfully introduced many new writers. Most of these writers were Southern fiction writers. They included Rubin's former students Jill McCorkle and Kaye Gibbons. Other famous authors like Clyde Edgerton also published with Algonquin.
In 1989, Workman Publishing bought the company. Algonquin Books has since published many best-selling books. Rubin stayed on as chief editor for two years. He retired from publishing in 1991, but he still edited some books for Algonquin.
In 2004, he received the Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award. This award was for his work at Algonquin and as a writing teacher. He was also named to the North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame in 1997.
Notable Works
History, Memoir, and Short Fiction
- Virginia: A Bicentennial History (1977)
- The Boll Weevil and the Triple Play (1979)
- Before the Game (1988)
- Small Craft Advisory: A Book about the Building of a Boat (1991)
- Seaports of the South: A Journey (1998)
- A Memory of Trains: The Boll Weevil and Others (2000)
- An Honorable Estate: My Time in the Working Press (2001)
- My Father's People: A Family of Southern Jews (2002)
- The Summer the Archduke Died: On Wars and Warriors (2008)
- Uptown and Downtown in Old Charleston: Sketches and Stories (2010)
Anthologies and Writing Instruction
- The Literary South (1979)
- The Algonquin Literary Quiz Book (with Julia Randall and Jerry Leith Mills, 1990)
- A Writer's Companion (with Jerry Leith Mills, 1995)
Novels
- The Golden Weather (1961)
- Surfaces of a Diamond (1981)
- The Heat of the Sun (1995)
See also
- Library of Virginia
- Fellowship of Southern Writers
- List of Guggenheim Fellowships Awarded in 1957
- North Carolina Award
- Sam Ragan Awards
