Robert Nichols (author)

For other people with the same name, see Robert Nichols.

Robert Nichols (July 15, 1919 – October 14, 2010) was an American architect, novelist, playwright, poet and short story writer.[1]

Early life, military service and education

Born Robert Brayton Nichols in Worcester, Massachusetts,[1] July 15, 1919, Nichols served as an officer in the United States Navy in World War II, and attended and earned two degrees from Harvard University, the first a bachelors and the second in landscape architecture.[1]

Career

Nichols's work in landscape architecture includes a redesign of Washington Square Park in the Manhattan borough of New York City.[1]

His poetry includes the volumes Red Shift (1977),[2] and Slow Newsreel of Man Riding Train (1962, number 15 in the City Lights Pocket Poets Series).[3][4]

He also wrote the short story collection, In the Air (1991),[5] and novels, including From the Steam Room (1993),[6] and a four-part series of novellas set in the utopia Nghsi-Altai.[2]

Nichols was a co-founder of the New York City's Judson Poets Theatre,[7][8] and participated in the Theater for the New City[9] and the Bread and Puppet Theater.[10][11]

Perspnal life

Nichols's first marriage was to the Village Voice editor, Mary Perot Nichols, which ended in divorce in 1969.[1][12] Nichols married writer Grace Paley in 1972, and they remained married until her death in 2007.[13]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Amateau, Albert (October 21, 2010). "Robert Nichols, 91, led Wash. Sq. '69 renovation". The Villager. 80 (21). Archived from the original on January 18, 2012. Retrieved March 7, 2020.
  2. ^ a b Jaeckle, Daniel P. "The Green Anarchist Utopia of Robert Nichols's Daily Lives in Nghsi-Altai." Utopian Studies 24, no. 2 (2013): 264–82. Retrieved February 27, 2021.
  3. ^ "Slow Newsreel of Man Riding Train". Clifford Garstang. March 9, 2005. Archived from the original on July 8, 2024. Retrieved July 8, 2024.
  4. ^ "Robert Nichols, 91, Led Wash. Sq. '69 Renovation". The Villager. October 21, 2010. Archived from the original on January 18, 2012. Retrieved July 9, 2024.
  5. ^ "In the Air". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on July 8, 2024. Retrieved July 8, 2024.
  6. ^ "From the Steam Room". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on July 8, 2024. Retrieved July 8, 2024.
  7. ^ "Al Carmines and the Judson Poets' Theater" (PDF). Judson Memorial Church. p. 2. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 3, 2022. Retrieved July 8, 2024.
  8. ^ "Larry Kornfeld" (PDF). Judson Memorial Church. p. 162. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 3, 2022. Retrieved July 8, 2024.
  9. ^ "TNC Street Theater Summer Tour – The Socialization of a Social Worker or Justice in a Time of Need (2024)". Theater for the New City. July 8, 2024. Archived from the original on July 8, 2024. Retrieved July 8, 2024.
  10. ^ "Elka Schumann In Memoriam". Bread and Puppet Theater. Archived from the original on July 8, 2024. Retrieved July 8, 2024.
  11. ^ "About B & P's 60 Year History". Bread and Puppet Theater. Archived from the original on July 8, 2024. Retrieved July 8, 2024.
  12. ^ Stout, David (May 22, 1996). "Mary Perot Nichols, 69, Who Led WNYC, Dies". The New York Times. p. D21. Retrieved December 30, 2023.
  13. ^ Woo, Elaine (August 24, 2007). "Grace Paley, 84; Writer's Bronx-Tinged Stories Focused on Working-Class Lives". Los Angeles Times. p. 98. Retrieved December 30, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.

Further reading