Doris Grumbach

Doris Grumbach was an American author, literary critic, essayist, and professor. She was born in New York City, on July 12, 1918. She attended Washington Square College of New York University. She studied philosophy and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1939. In 1940, she received a Master of Arts degree in Medieval Literature from Cornell University. In 1943, she joined the U. S. Navy and became an officer in the WAVES. until 1945. Her teaching career included the College of Saint Rose, in Albany, New York; the Iowa Writer's Workshop at the University of Iowa; and American University in Washington, D. C. In 1972, she began working as a literary editor for The New Republic magazine. She wrote 7 novels, 6 memoirs, a biography, and a children's book. Her books included the novels, Chamber Music (1979), and The Book of Knowledge (1995). Her memoirs included Coming into the End Zone (1991), and The Pleasure of Their Company (2001). Beyond writing, she and her partner ran a bookstore, Wayward Books, in Maine, until 2009. Doris Grumbach died on November 4, 2022. in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. She was 104.