Gass, William

Gass, William (Howard) (1924–  ) writer, teacher; born in Fargo, N.D. He studied philosophy at Kenyon College (B.A. 1947) and Cornell (Ph.D. 1954). He taught philosophy and English at the College of Wooster, Ohio (1950–54), Purdue (1954–69), and Washington University, St. Louis (1969). He won numerous literary awards and is noted for his aesthetic concern for language and metaphor, both in fiction such as Willie Masters' Lonesome Wife (1971) and in his nonfictional work such as On Being Blue (1975).