Paul Pickrel

Paul Pickrel

Professor, writer, editor, and lecturer, died at his home in The Sequoias, San Francisco, on October 27, 2014 at the age of 97. He was born in Gilson, a village in western Illinois, on February 2, 1917, the youngest of four children of Clayton and Inez Pickrel. He graduated from Knox College, Phi Beta Kappa, and won a fellowship for graduate work at Yale University, where he was awarded a Master's degree and Doctorate. He taught at Yale for a quarter of a century, for many years serving as managing editor of The Yale Review and at various times as Director of Special Programs for undergraduates and graduate students.
In 1966 he moved to Smith College as professor of English; he served two terms as Chairman of the English department. He retired in 1987 and moved to The Sequoias in 2000. He published a novel and numerous critical and scholarly essays on the English language and fiction in professional journals. He wrote many book reviews, chiefly while serving as the chief book critic for Harper's Magazine, in the fifties and sixties. Mr. Pickrel is survived by four generations of nieces and nephews scattered from Michigan to California.
There will be a Celebration of Life service at The Sequoias at 1400 Geary Blvd., San Francisco on Sunday November 9, 2014 from 3-5 pm in the auditorium.
Memorial gifts may be made to the Paul Pickrel Fund, Knox College, 2 East South St, K-230, Galesburg, Illinois 61401.