Humphrey, William

Humphrey, William

(1924– ) writer; born in Clarksville, Texas. He studied at Southern Methodist University and the University of Texas, and then, feeling the need for literary contacts, moved to New York City in 1953. His first novel, Home from the Hills (1958), was well received; it is set in the Red River country of northeast Texas, the locale of most of his fiction thereafter. The Ordways (1965) was his second novel; a later one was Hostages to Fortune (1984). In addition to short stories, critical articles, and a memoir, he published many articles on his activities as an outdoorsman and two books on fishing. He lived for awhile in Italy, then returned to the U.S.A. and began the serious American writer's usual round of teaching at various colleges and universities; his longest stay was at Bard College (New York) and this led him to settle for many of his later years in Hudson, N.Y.