Lester Goran

Lester Goran (May 16, 1928 - February 6, 2014^[1]) was an American writer best known for his works about growing up poor in his hometown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the neighborhood of Oakland.

Early life and education

Goran was born May 16, 1928 in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. His parents were Jacob and Tillie Goran. Goran was raised in a housing project near the University of Pittsburgh. Although the university was close, Goran grew up among the working class culture of the projects. Although he was Jewish, his writing was heavily influenced by the culture of Irish-Americans and the goings on of the local pubs, especially the Irish Club.

Goran attended Fifth Avenue High School and Schenley High School and the University of Pittsburgh for both his B.A. and M.A. which he earned in 1951 and 1961, respectively. Goran also served with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Military Police. Goran married Edythe McDowell. The couple had three children.^[2]

Career

Goran joined the faculty at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida, starting in 1960. He became a professor of English in 1974. He founded the Creative Writing Program in the Collge of Arts and Sciences in 1965, In 1991, he contributed to establishing the Master of Fine Arts program. Over the course of his career as faculty at the University of Miami, he taught more than 20,000 students.

Goran's work reflects a great deal about his past and upbringing. In Tales from the Irish Club: A Collection of Short Stories, Goran portrays the neighborhood of his childhood by presenting it through a series of short stories. Much of his work is influenced by Irish-American culture.

The sequel to Tales from the Irish Club was She Loved Me Once, another collection of short stories. Critics welcomed She Loved Me Once as a simple and solid portrayal of Goran's boyhood community.

In his novel, Bing Crosby's Last Song, Goran explores Pittsburgh through the eyes of his main character Daly Racklin. The novel takes place just before the assassination of John F. Kennedy and chronicles Daly's confrontation with heart problems and the prospect of losing his home. Critics, including Library Journal reviewer Susan Gene Clifford, said that the work was more of a "nostalgic snapshot" as opposed to a true novel. Nevertheless, the book was met with decent acclaim by most critics who praised it for its down-to-earth style.

For other works by Lester Goran, see the Selected bibliography section below.

Selected bibliography

• The Paratrooper of Mechanic Avenue (1960)
• Maria Light (1962)
• The Candy Butcher's Farewell (1964)
• The Stranger in the Snow (1966)
• The Demon in the Sun Parlor (1968)
• The Keeper of Secrets (1971)
• Mrs. Beautiful (1985)
• The Bright Streets of Surfside: The Memoir of a Friendship with Isaac Bashevis Singer (1994)
• Tales from the Irish Club: A Collection of Short Stories (1996)
• She Loved Me Once, and Other Stories (1997)
• Bing Crosby's Last Song (1998)
• Outlaws of the Purple Cow and Other Stories (1999)
• 'Don't I Know You?', an extract from the as-yet-unpublished novel Unnatural Expectations, in Contrappasso Magazine (Issue 1, 2012)^[3]

References

Bibliography

• Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 244: American Short-Story Writers since World War II, Thomson Gale (Detroit, MI), 2001.
• Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 2008. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale, 2008.

External links

• The Magic Streets of Pittsburgh: An Interview with Lester Goran by Matthew Asprey in Contrappasso Magazine (Issue 1, 2012).
• Lester Goran at the Biography Resource Center
• Review of Tales From the Irish Club at The New York Times
• Information on Lester Goran at the National Writers' Workshop
• List of works by Lester Goran at Open Library
• Matthew Asprey Gear's 2010 essay ‘From Sobaski’s Stairway to the Irish Club: Lester Goran’s Pittsburgh‘
• Lester Goran's University of Miami bio