Joseph McElroy

Joseph Prince McElroy (born August 21, 1930) is an American novelist, short story writer, and essayist.
Personal background.
McElroy was born on August 21, 1930 in Brooklyn, New York. McElroy grew up in Brooklyn Heights. He graduated from Poly Prep Country Day School in 1947 and was given an Alumni Distinguished Achievement Award in 2007 from the school's Board of Governors. He graduated from Williams College in 1951. The following year, he earned a master's degree from Columbia University. He served in the Coast Guard from 1952 to 1954, and then returned to Columbia to complete his Ph.D. in 1961.
In 1961, McElroy married Joan Leftwich, of London, in London. She is the daughter of Yiddish-speaking Orthodox Jews; her father, Joseph Leftwich, was a translator and anthologizer of Yiddish poetry. The McElroys' only child, Hanna, was born in 1967. McElroy assisted with the birth.
Career.
McElroy taught English and Creative Writing at the University of New Hampshire from 1956 to 1962 and at Queens College, City University of New York from 1964 to 1995, when he retired. McElroy's first novel, "A Smuggler's Bible," was published in 1966. McElroy said "A Smuggler's Bible" "is like everybody's first novel, trying to put too much between covers. ...[I}t's a young book, and young people still seem to like it."<ref>