born Sept. 16, 1926, Fairmont, W.Va., U.S.
died Nov. 29, 2001, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
U.S. author.
Educated at Yale University, he gained prominence for his first novel, A Separate Peace (1959), about the competitive friendship of two private-school students. Most of his novels, which include Indian Summer (1966), Spreading Fires (1974), and Peace Breaks Out (1981), are psychological examinations of characters caught in conflict between the wild and the pragmatic sides of their personalities.