John Knowles

John Knowles (/noʊlz/; September 16, 1926 – November 29, 2001) was an American novelist best known for A Separate Peace (1959). He died in 2001 at the age of 75. 2Biography Knowles was born in Fairmont, West Virginia, the son of James M. Knowles, a purchasing agent from Lowell, Massachusetts, and Mary Beatrice Shea Knowles from Concord, New Hampshire. His father was vice president of a coal company, earning an income which afforded them a comfortable living. Knowles attended St. Peter's High School in Fairmont, West Virginia from 1938 until 1940, before continuing at Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire, graduating in 1945. Following his time at Phillips Exeter, Knowles spent two years serving in the U.S. Army Air Forces in World War II. Knowles graduated from Yale University as a member of the class of 1949. While at Yale, Knowles contributed stories to campus humor magazine The Yale Record and served on the board of the Yale Daily News during his sophomore, junior and senior years, notably as editorial secretary during his senior year. He was a record-holding varsity swimmer during his sophomore year. Early in Knowles's career, he wrote for the Hartford Courant and was assistant editor for Holiday magazin