People like Robert Hellenga

Robert Hellenga (August 5, 1941 – July 18, 2020) was an American novelist, essayist, and short story author. His seven novels included The Sixteen Pleasures, The Fall of a Sparrow, Blues Lessons, Philosophy Made Simple, The Italian Lover, Snakewoman of Little Egypt, and The Confessions of Frances Godwin. In addition to these works, he wrote a novella along with a collection of short stories in The Truth About Death and Other Stories. Hellenga also published scholarly essays and literary or travel essays in various venues, including The National Geographic Traveler, The New York Times Sophisticated Traveler, and The Gettysburg Review.

Hellenga grew up in Three Oaks, Michigan, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He did his undergraduate work at the University of Michigan and his graduate work at the Queen’s University of Belfast, the University of North Carolina, and Princeton University. He received his Ph.D. from Princeton and began teaching English literature at Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois, in 1968. In 1973–74 he was co-director of the ACM Seminar in the Humanities at the Newberry Library in Chicago, and in 1982–83 he directed the ACM Florence programs in Florence, Italy. He also worked and studied in Bologna, Verona, and Rome. He was Distinguished Writer in Residence and Professor Emeritus at Knox College. Hellenga was married and had three daughters.