Hinden, Michael C. 1941–

(Emmett Byrd, John Crowe Byrd, Michael Hinden, Michael Charles Hinden)

PERSONAL: Born June 5, 1941, in New York, NY; son of Samuel R. and Ada (Trachtenberg) Hinden; married Betsy Draine (a professor of English), November 28, 1981. Education: Sorbonne, University of Paris, Degre Superieur (with high honors), 1962; Ohio University, B.A. (summa cum laude), 1963; Brown University, Ph.D., 1971.

ADDRESSES: Home—3606 Deer Path Rd., Middleton, WI 53562. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Writer and educator. Brown University, Providence, R.I., instructor in English, 1968–69; University of Wisconsin—Madison, instructor, 1969–70, assistant professor, 1970–75, associate professor, 1975–85, professor of English, 1985–2005, Howe Bascom Professor of Integrated Liberal Studies, 2005, professor emeritas, 2005,—chairman of integrated liberal studies program, 1980–85, Study Abroad director, 1991–2003, associate dean of international studies, codirector, Asian Partnership Initiative. Bradley Learning Community, founding faculty director, 1995–2000. Fulbright-Hays senior lecturer at University of Bucharest, 1975–76. Frequent guest on radio programs. Honorary charter member of Alexander Meiklejohn Foundation.

MEMBER: Modern Language Association of America, Eugene O'Neill Society (chairman of board of directors, 1982–92), Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Eta Sigma, Phi Kappa Phi.

WRITINGS:

(Under pseudonym Emmett Byrd) Byrd Thou Never Wert: The Collected Poems and Post Cards of Emmett Byrd (humor), Ten Speed Press (Berkeley, CA), 1980.

Long Day's Journey Into Night: Native Eloquence, Twayne Publishers (Boston, MA), 1990.

(Translator, with wife, Betsy Draine) Jean-Luc Tous-saint, The Walnut Cookbook, Ten Speed Press (Berkeley, CA), 1998.

(With wife, Betsy Draine) A Castle in the Backyard: The Dream of a House in France, University of Wisconsin Press (Madison, WI), 2002.

Contributor to books, including Critical Essays on John Barth, edited by Joseph J. Waldmeir, G.K. Hall (Boston, MA), 1980; and Integrated Studies: Challenges to the College Curriculum, edited by Stephen H. Dill, University Press of America (Washington, DC), 1982. Contributor of articles and book reviews on modern drama, theory of tragedy, art, and literature to numerous periodicals, including Modern Drama, Comparative Drama, Mosaic, Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, Criticism, and Twentieth Century Literature.

SIDELIGHTS: Michael C. Hinden is the coauthor of A Castle in the Backyard: The Dream of a House in France. Written with his wife and fellow English professor Betsy Draine, the book describes the couple's search to find a perfect house for a summer home in the French valley region of Perigord. They recount their early experiences of house-hunting in France, how they located their property, the process of purchasing, and the fifteen summers they have spent renovating and repairing the house and establishing their presence in the French countryside. In the process, they provide portraits of their neighbors, the food, and the region, all the while relating their own challenges and sheer love for the land and country. Library Journal reviewer Mari Flynn called the book a "charming memoir," while Brad Hooper, writing in Booklist, observed that "every one of their anecdotes is delightfully worth telling."

Hinden told CA: "Writing a joint memoir was a unique experience. After several clumsy attempts at multiple focus narration, we decided to limit the perspective to one point of view, and Betsy won the coin toss. So there are moments in the book when I am remembering my own experiences in France from my wife's point of view. Fortunately, that turned out to be fun. We knew from the outset that our greatest challenge would be to develop a single voice, and we worked very hard at that, editing and re-editing each other's prose. We wondered if our joint venture would put strains on our relationship, but happily, we not only shared the same memories but also the same writing goals."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, August, 2002, Brad Hooper, review of A Castle in the Backyard: The Dream of a House in France, p. 1914.

Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries, October, 1990, review of Long Day's Journey into Night, p. 307.

Library Journal, August, 2002, Mari Flynn, review of A Castle in the Backyard, p. 125.

New York Times, November 4, 1998, Suzanne Hamlin, review of The Walnut Cookbook, p. F2.

ONLINE

International Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Web site, http://www.intl-institute.wisc.edu/ (February 6, 2006), biography of Michael Hinden.

Ohio Today Online, http://www.ohiou.edu/ohiotoday/ (February 6, 2006), Katie Fitzgerald, "Summer Dreams," review of A Castle in the Backyard.