John Richard Adams Humphreys

Background

John Humphreys was born on June 7, 1918, in Mancelona, Michigan.

Education

John Humphreys received a bachelor's degree in 1940 from the University of Michigan. He also studied art at the New York Institute of Photography.

Career

After education, John Humphreys became a feature writer for the Detroit Free Press before enlisting in the Army Signal Corps during World War II. He served in England and France, returning home to publish his first book, Vandameer's Road.

John Humphreys then joined the faculty at Columbia University, where he taught in the English department from 1946 until 1988 and was director of the creative writing program from 1962 to 1988. His pupils included the publisher Samuel Vaughan and the author Evan Connell.

John Humphreys was also interested in photography, and after education in 1955, he became a photographer for Paddock Studios and then Dingee Studio during the late 1950s. He also tried his hand at being a disc jockey for station KTRC in 1960.

After retiring from Columbia, John Humphreys became an editor for Cane Hill Press in Santa Fe. He also served as a literary consultant for Doubleday. Humphreys was the author of seven books in all, including the nonfiction works The Last of the Middle West and Timeless Towns and Haunted Places, and the fiction works Subway to Samarkand and Maya Red.

Achievements

• John Humphreys was well known as a writer and educator. He taught at Columbia University for more than four decades. As a writer, Humphreys was the author of seven works.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Vandameer's Road 1946
  • The Last of the Middle West 1966
  • Timeless Towns and Haunted Places 1989
  • Subway to Samarkand 1977
  • Maya Red 1989

Connections

John Humphreys's first wife was June Tolton. They married in 1942 and had a daughter, Catherine Niejadlik. Then Humphreys married Joan Aucourt in 1955, but that marriage also ended in divorce. John Humphreys's third wife was Peggy Humphreys.

ex-wife:

June Tolton

June Tolton was John Humphreys's first wife.

ex-wife:

Joan Aucourt

Joan Aucourt was John Humphreys's second wife.

Wife:

Peggy Humphreys

Peggy Humphreys was John Humphreys's third wife.

Daughter:

Catherine Niejadlik