Philip Beidler

Philip Douglas Beidler (October 29, 1944 – April 20, 2022)[1][2][3] was a professor of American literature at the University of Alabama, and the author and editor of books on Alabama literature, the Vietnam War, and other topics. For his work on Vietnam writers, he has been called "one of the founding fathers of Vietnam War studies."[4]

Biography

Beidler, who was of German and Quaker descent, was born October 29, 1944, in Adams, Pennsylvania.[1] He did his undergraduate studies at Davidson College.[5] During 1969 and 1970, he served as a lieutenant in an armored cavalry platoon in Vietnam.[6][7][8] He received master's and doctoral degrees in English from the University of Virginia—the latter in 1974.[9][5]

He became a professor at the University of Alabama in the mid-1970s, served as director of graduate studies and as assistant dean, and was awarded the 1999 Burnum Distinguished Faculty Award.[5] He was eventually named the Margaret and William Going Professor of English and, at the time of his death, he was a professor emeritus of English at the University of Alabama.[10][11]

Beidler suffered from Parkinson's during the last years of his life. He died April 20, 2022.[2]

Selected publications

Vietnam literature
  • American Literature and the Experience of Vietnam. Athens: U of Georgia P. 1982. ISBN 9780820306124.[12][13]
  • Re-writing America: Vietnam Authors in Their Generation. Athens: U of Georgia P. 1991. ISBN 9780820312644.[12][14]
  • Scriptures for a Generation: What We Were Reading in the '60s. Athens: U of Georgia P. 1994.[15]
  • Late Thoughts on an Old War: The Legacy of Vietnam. Athens: U of Georgia P. 2004.

Alabama literature
  • The art of fiction in the heart of Dixie: An anthology of Alabama writers. Tuscaloosa: U of Alabama P. 1986. ISBN 978-0-8173-0313-6.
  • Many voices, many rooms: a new anthology of Alabama writers. Tuscaloosa: U of Alabama P. 1998. ISBN 978-0-8173-0867-4.

References
  1. Ancestry.com. Virginia, U.S., Divorce Records, 1918-2014 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015.
  2. Brian Oliu [@BrianOliu] (April 20, 2022). "The English Department & all of UA lost a legend today. Phil Beidler passed away this morning" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  3. University of Alabama Press [@UnivofALPress] (April 20, 2022). "We were very saddened to learn of the passing of Phil Beidler—beloved UA professor, longtime UAP editorial board member, and author. A critic and memoirist, he published five books with us, including the forthcoming GREAT BEYOND: ART IN THE AGE OF ANNIHILATION. He will be missed" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  4. Janette, Michele (2002). "What We Talk about When We Talk about War". Contemporary Literature. 43 (4): 784–93. doi:10.2307/1209042. JSTOR 1209042.
  5. "English Professor Selected for Prestigious Burnum Award". University of Alabama. 6 March 2000. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
  6. Noble, Don (2004-07-12). "Late Thoughts On An Old War". Alabama Public Radio. Retrieved 2022-04-20.
  7. "Different wars, different reactions, Despite unpopularity of Iraq conflict, Americans respect our soldiers - & now even Vietnam vets". Philadelphia Daily News. 30 October 2007. p. 3. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
  8. Stevenson, Tommy (20 January 1991). "UA hosts 'teach in' forum on Desert Storm". Tuscaloosa News. p. 5A. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
  9. "Philip D. Beidler". The Virginia Quarterly Review. 2003. Retrieved 2022-04-20.
  10. "Phil Beidler". Department of English, the University of Alabama. Retrieved 2022-04-20.
  11. Noble, Don (Nov 10, 2015). Bookmark with Don Noble: Philip D. Beidler (video).
  12. Chen, Tina (1998). "'Unraveling the Deeper Meaning': Exile and the Embodied Poetics of Displacement in Tim O'Brien's 'The Things They Carried'". Contemporary Literature. 39 (1): 77–98. doi:10.2307/1208922. JSTOR 1208922.
  13. "'It don't mean nothin': Vietnam War fiction and postmodernism". College Literature. 2003.
  14. Mitgang, Herbert (24 July 1991). "Books of The Times; Many Visions of the Vietnam War". The New York Times. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
  15. Jason, Philip K. (1995). "The Sixties Past and Present". Contemporary Literature. 36 (4): 702–707. doi:10.2307/1208947. JSTOR 1208947.
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