Clyde Edgerton - 1944
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I. Biography
Clyde Edgerton is a North Carolina author who has written many famous novels. They are: Raney, Walking Across Egypt, The Floatplane Notebooks, Killer Diller, In Memory of Junior, Redeye, and Where Trouble Sleeps.
Edgerton was born on May 20, 1944 in Durham North Carolina. He lived near his 23 aunts and uncles who loved to tell him stories. These experiences are some of the things that got Edgerton interested in writing. He had a good childhood. He was very popular in his community due to his outgoing personality and good sense of humor. Not many people would have guessed that Clyde would have become an author, many people thought he would grow up to play baseball or be a hunter.
Edgerton went to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. After reading A Farewell to Arms, Edgerton wanted nothing more than to be an English teacher so he could share his excitement for such literature with students. Edgerton was in the Air Force ROTC program where he learned to fly small planes. After graduation in 1966, he was offered to join the United States Air Force. He took the offer and for the next 4 years he served on active duty flying fighter planes. He flew in the U.S., Korea, and Japan.
When Edgerton finished in the Air Force, he decided to go back to college and get his masters degree before starting his career as an English teacher. After getting his degree, he became an English teacher at his old high school. All of the students loved Edgerton because he brought the literature that he read to them to life. His success inspired him to return to the University and to begin a doctoral program. In graduate school, Edgerton met Susan Ketchin who was another graduate student in English education. They both loved the stories of Eudora Welty and Flannery O'Conner. Then in 1975, they were married in his home church, Bethesda Baptist.
After getting his doctorate, Edgerton became and English teacher at Campbell University where he taught from 1977- 1985. Clyde and Susan then bought an old house in Apex, which is a community located halfway between Raleigh and Buies Creek. When Edgerton decided to become a writer it was a surprise to everyone including himself. For the past few years he had been keeping a journal, writing down ideas, feelings, characters, and events. He planned on using these notes to help him write his stories. On May 14, 1978, Clyde wrote in his journal, "Tomorrow, May 15, 1978- I would like to become a writer." That was how Clyde Edgerton began his career that resulted in writing seven novels.
Clyde Edgerton is from Durham, North Carolina. Durham is located northwest from Raleigh and northeast from Chapel Hill. The climate in Durham is hot in the summer, and cool in the winter. It is basically the same as the climate in Charlotte. It is occasionally hit by a hurricane from the East Coast. Durham is part of the research triangle, which includes Raleigh and Chapel Hill. It is known a lot for its medical fields, and it has some of the most professional hospitals, including Duke Medical Center. Probably one of the most recognized landmarks is Duke University, which holds high NCAA standards.
II. Edgerton on the Web
http:www.dcvb.durham.nc.usThis essay was submitted by a student of Leslie Andres, a teacher at Lake Norman Charter School in Huntersville, North Carolina.