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Whitney Lyon Balliett was a
jazzJazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
critic and book reviewer for the
New Yorker and was with the journal from 1954 until 2001.
Born in Manhattan and raised in Glen Cove, Long Island, Balliett attended
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...
, where he learned to played drums in a band he summed up as “baggy Dixieland”; he played summer gigs at a Center Island yacht club.
He was drafted into the Army in 1946, interrupting his freshman year at
Cornell UniversityCornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
, to which returned to finish his degree in 1951 and where he was a member of The
Delta PhiDelta Phi is a fraternity founded in 1827 at Union College in Schenectady, New York. Founded as part of the Union Triad, along with the Kappa Alpha Society and Sigma Phi Society, Delta Phi was the third and last member of the Triad...
Fraternity. He then went on to a job at
The New YorkerThe New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
, where he was hired by Katherine White, one of the magazine’s fiction editors.
Acclaimed for his literary writing style Whitney Balliett died on 1 February 2007, aged 80, from
cancerCancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
, survived by his second wife Nancy Balliett and five children:James Fargo Balliett, Blue Balliett, Will Balliett, Julie Lyon Rose, and Whitney Balliett, Jr.
Contributions to The New YorkerThe New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
| Title |
Department |
Volume/Part |
Date |
Page(s) |
Subject(s) |
| No and Yes |
Books |
60/48 |
14 January 1985 |
116-117 |
Reviews:
- - Young Hearts Crying by Richard Yates
Richard Yates was an American novelist and short story writer, known for his exploration of mid-20th century life.-Life:...
- - Scandal, or Priscilla's Kindness
Scandal, or Priscilla's Kindness is a satirical novel by A. N. Wilson first published in 1983 about a British politician's rise and fall, the latter caused by a relationship with a prostitute...
by A. N. WilsonAndrew Norman Wilson is an English writer and newspaper columnist, known for his critical biographies, novels, works of popular history and religious views...
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