John Knowles was an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
novelistAn author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
best known for his novel
A Separate PeaceA Separate Peace is a novel by John Knowles. Based on his earlier short story "Phineas", it was Knowles' first published novel and became his best-known work.-Plot summary:...
. He died in 2001 at the age of seventy-five.
Early life
Knowles was born in
Fairmont, West VirginiaFairmont is a city in Marion County, West Virginia, United States. Nicknamed "The Friendly City". The population was 18,704 at the 2010 census...
, the son of James M. Knowles, a purchasing agent from
Lowell, MassachusettsLowell is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA. According to the 2010 census, the city's population was 106,519. It is the fourth largest city in the state. Lowell and Cambridge are the county seats of Middlesex County...
, and Mary Beatrice Shea Knowles from
Concord, New HampshireThe city of Concord is the capital of the state of New Hampshire in the United States. It is also the county seat of Merrimack County. As of the 2010 census, its population was 42,695....
. In his home town, Knowles’ father was the vice president of a coal company and fortunately, they received a steady income and were able to live a good life. He attended
St. Peter's High SchoolMansfield St. Peter's High School is a private, Catholic, co-educational secondary school located in Mansfield, Ohio, United States. It is part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Toledo.-Ohio High School Athletic Association state championships:...
in
Fairmont, West VirginiaFairmont is a city in Marion County, West Virginia, United States. Nicknamed "The Friendly City". The population was 18,704 at the 2010 census...
from 1940 until 1942, before continuing at
Phillips Exeter AcademyPhillips Exeter Academy is a private secondary school located in Exeter, New Hampshire, in the United States.Exeter is noted for its application of Harkness education, a system based on a conference format of teacher and student interaction, similar to the Socratic method of learning through asking...
in
Exeter, New HampshireExeter is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The town's population was 14,306 at the 2010 census. Exeter was the county seat until 1997, when county offices were moved to neighboring Brentwood...
, graduating in 1945. He married Beth Anne Dyment Hughes at the age of 19. Knowles graduated from
Yale UniversityYale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
as a member of the class of 1949. While at Yale, Knowles served on the Board of
Yale Daily NewsThe Yale Daily News is an independent student newspaper published by Yale University students in New Haven, Connecticut since January 28, 1878...
during his sophomore, junior and senior years, specifically as Editorial Secretary during his senior year. He was a record-holding varsity swimmer during his sophomore year.
A Separate PeaceA Separate Peace is a novel by John Knowles. Based on his earlier short story "Phineas", it was Knowles' first published novel and became his best-known work.-Plot summary:...
is based upon Knowles's experiences at Phillips Exeter Academy. The setting for The Devon Woolbert School is a thinly veiled fictionalization of Phillips Exeter Academy. The plot should not be taken as autobiographical, although many elements of the novel stem from personal experience, including Knowles' membership in a secret society and sustaining of a foot injury while jumping from a tree during society exercises. In his essay, "A Special Time, A Special Place," Knowles wrote:
The only elements in A Separate Peace which were not in that summer were anger, violence, and hatred. There was only friendship, character, athleticism, and honor.
The secondary character Finny (Phineas) was the best friend of the main character, Gene. Knowles has stated that he modeled Finny on David Hackett from Milton Academy, whom he met when both attended a summer session at Phillips Exeter Academy. Hackett was a friend of Robert Kennedy's, under whom he later served in the Justice Department. A Phineas Sprague lived in the same dormitory as Knowles during the summer session of 1943 and may have been an inspiration for the character's name.
Gore VidalGore Vidal is an American author, playwright, essayist, screenwriter, and political activist. His third novel, The City and the Pillar , outraged mainstream critics as one of the first major American novels to feature unambiguous homosexuality...
, in his memoir
Palimpsest, acknowledges that he and Knowles concurrently attended Phillips Exeter Academy, with Vidal two years ahead. Vidal states that Knowles told him that the character Brinker, who precipitates the novel's crisis, is based on Vidal. "We have been friends for many years now," Vidal said, "and I admire the novel that he based on our school days,
A Separate Peace."
Following his time at Philips Exeter, Knowles spent eight months serving in the U.S. Army Air Forces in
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
after which he attended Yale. Early in Knowles's career, he wrote for the
Hartford Courant and was assistant editor for
Holiday magazine, while he concurrently began writing novels, of which he eventually completed seven.
Later career
A Separate Peace was first published in London by Secker and Warburg in 1959. The novel was published in New York in 1960 by Macmillan. Knowles's other significant works are
Morning in Antibes,
Double Vision: American Thoughts Abroad,
Indian Summer,
The Paragon, and
Peace Breaks OutPeace Breaks Out is a novel by American author John Knowles, better known for A Separate Peace . The books share the setting of the Devon preparatory school, probably a reference to Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire, which Knowles attended in his youth.-Plot introduction:This book...
. None of these later works was as well received as
A Separate Peace.
As a resident of
Southampton, New YorkSouthampton is a village in Suffolk County, New York, USA. The village is named after the Earl of Southampton. The Village of Southampton is in the southeast part of the county in the Town of Southampton...
, Knowles wrote seven novels, a book on travel and a collection of stories. He was the winner of the William Faulkner Award and the Rosenthal Award shinguard of the National Institute of Arts and Letters. In his later years, Knowles lectured to university audiences.
Knowles died in 2001, at the age of 75, in
Fort Lauderdale, FloridaFort Lauderdale is a city in the U.S. state of Florida, on the Atlantic coast. It is the county seat of Broward County. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 165,521. It is a principal city of the South Florida metropolitan area, which was home to 5,564,635 people at the 2010...
.
Selected works
- A Separate Peace
A Separate Peace is a novel by John Knowles. Based on his earlier short story "Phineas", it was Knowles' first published novel and became his best-known work.-Plot summary:...
; a novel, London, Secker & Warburg, 1959; New York, Macmillan Co., 1960
- Morning in Antibes; a novel, New York, Macmillan, 1962
- Double Vision; American Thoughts Abroad, New York, Macmillan, 1964
- Indian Summer, New York, Random House, 1966
- Phineas; six stories, New York, Random House, 1968
- The Paragon; a novel, New York, Random House, c. 1971
- A Special Time, A Special Place, Exeter Bulletin, 1995 (autobiographical note on internet)
- Spreading Fires, New York, Random Hose, 1974
- A Vein of Riches, Boston, Little Brown, 1978
- Peace Breaks Out
Peace Breaks Out is a novel by American author John Knowles, better known for A Separate Peace . The books share the setting of the Devon preparatory school, probably a reference to Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire, which Knowles attended in his youth.-Plot introduction:This book...
, New York, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1981
- A Stolen Past, New York, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1983
- The Private Life of Axie Reed, New York : Jesse Grunberg, 1986
Film and television adaptations of A Separate Peace
In 1972, Paramount Pictures released a film version of
A Separate Peace, directed by Larry Peerce and starring
Parker StevensonParker Stevenson is an American television and film actor.-Career:His first notable screen appearance was a starring role in the 1972 movie A Separate Peace...
(Gene) and John Heyl (Phineas). In 2004, a television version was produced by the Showtime network, directed by Peter Yates and starring J Barton (Gene) and Toby Moore (Phineas).