ROLLYSON, Carl E(dmund), Jr. 1948-

(Carl Rollyson, Carl Sokolnicki Rollyson)

PERSONAL: Born March 2, 1948, in Miami, FL; son of Carl Emerson (a bartender) and Emily (a sales clerk; maiden name, Sokolik) Rollyson; married Charlotte Hollander, May 17, 1969 (divorced, September, 1981); married Lisa Olson Paddock (an attorney and author), November 4, 1981; children: (first marriage) Amelia. Ethnicity: "Caucasian." Education: Michigan State University, B.A., 1969; University of Toronto, M.A., 1970, Ph.D., 1975. Hobbies and other interests: Biking, gardening.

ADDRESSES: Home—Cape May County, NJ. Office— Bernard M. Baruch College of the City University of New York, 17 Lexington Ave., New York, NY 10010; fax: 212-387-1785. Agent—Elizabeth Frost-Knappman, New England Publishing Associates Inc., Box 5, Chester, CT 06412.

CAREER: English teacher in Rosemont, PA, 1973-76; Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, assistant professor, 1976-82, associate professor, 1982-87, professor of humanities, 1987, coordinator of humanities division, 1982-83, coordinator of Capstone program, 1984-85, acting assistant dean of graduate school, 1985-87, adjunct associate professor of English, 1986-87; Bernard M. Baruch College of the City University of New York, New York, NY, associate dean of School of Liberal Arts and Sciences, 1987-88, professor of art, 1988-95, professor of English, 1995—, associate provost, 1988-90, acting dean of education, 1989-90. University of Gdansk, Fulbright fellow, 1979-80. Amnesty International, death penalty coordinator, 1986; consultant to North Central Associates.

MEMBER: Authors Guild, Authors League of America, Phi Beta Kappa, Tau Sigma, Phi Kappa Phi, Phi Eta Phi.

AWARDS, HONORS: Woodrow Wilson fellow, 1972-73; faculty research award, Wayne State University, 1979; grants from American Philosophical Society, 1986-87, American Council of Learned Societies, 1988-89, and National Endowment for the Humanities, 1995.

WRITINGS:

Uses of the Past in the Novels of William Faulkner, UMI Research Press (Ann Arbor, MI), 1984, reprinted, International Scholars Publications (San Francisco, CA), 1998.

Marilyn Monroe: A Life of the Actress, UMI Research Press (Ann Arbor, MI), 1986.

(Under name Carl Rollyson) Lillian Hellman: Her Legend and Her Legacy, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1988.

(Under name Carl Rollyson) Nothing Ever Happens to the Brave: The Story of Martha Gellhorn, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1990, revised edition published as Beautiful Exile: The Life of Martha Gellhorn, Aurum Press (London, England), 2001.

(Under name Carl Rollyson) The Lives of Norman Mailer: A Biography, Paragon House (New York, NY), 1991.

(Under name Carl Rollyson) Biography: An Annotated Bibliography, Salem Press (Pasadena, CA), 1992.

(Under name Carl Rollyson) Pablo Piccaso, Rourke Publications (Vero Beach, FL), 1993.

(Under name Carl Rollyson) Rebecca West: A Life, Scribner (New York, NY), 1996.

(Under name Carl Sokolnicki Rollyson; with wife, Lisa Olson Paddock) A Student's Guide to Polish American Genealogy, Oryx Press (Phoenix, AZ), 1996.

(Under name Carl Sokolnicki Rollyson; with Lisa Olson Paddock) A Student's Guide to Scandinavian American Genealogy, Oryx Press (Phoenix, AZ), 1996.

(Under name Carl Rollyson) The Literary Legacy of Rebecca West, University Press of America (Lanham, MD), 1997.

(Coauthor) Where America Stands, Wiley (New York, NY), 1997.

(Under name Carl Rollyson; with Lisa Olson Paddock) Herman Melville A to Z: The Essential Reference to his Life and Work, Facts on File (New York, NY), 2000.

(Under name Carl Rollyson; with Lisa Olson Paddock) Susan Sontag: The Making of an Icon, Norton (New York, NY), 2000.

(Under name Carl Rollyson) Reading Susan Sontag: A Critical Introduction to Her Work, Ivan R. Dee (Chicago, IL), 2001.

Encyclopedia of American Literature, Volume 3: The Modern and Post-modern Period, Facts on File (New York, NY), 2002.

(Under name Carl Rollyson; with Lisa Olson Paddock) The Brontës A to Z: The Essential Reference to Their Lives and Work, Facts on File (New York, NY), 2003.

To Be a Woman: The Life of Jill Craigie, Aurum Press (London, England), 2003.

Contributor of more than 500 articles, reviews, and film critiques to periodicals, including New Criterion, Virginia Quarterly Review, Chicago Review, Literature and History, Baltimore Sun, Detroit Free Press, and Wilson Quarterly.

EDITOR

(Under name Carl Rollyson) Teenage Refugees from Eastern Europe Speak Out, Rosen Publishing Group (New York, NY), 1997.

(Under name Carl Rollyson; with Frank N. Magill) Critical Survey of Long Fiction, eight volumes, Salem Press (Pasadena, CA), 2nd edition, 2000.

Notable American Novelists, three volumes, Salem Press (Pasadena, CA), 2000.

(Under name Carl Rollyson) Notable British Novelists, three volumes, Salem Press (Pasadena, CA), 2001.

(Under name Carl Rollyson; with Frank N. Magill) A Critical Survey of Drama, eight volumes, Salem Press (Pasadena, CA), 2nd edition, 2003.

SIDELIGHTS: Carl E. Rollyson, Jr. once told CA: "Running into James Mason in the Tower of London was my first encounter with a big public name. Already attracted to a life of the theater at the age of thirteen, I was in London in 1963 as part of a touring company of Shakespearean actors. In college, teaching became an extension of acting and writing a way of scripting my life. Most of my biographies focus on women with theatrical personalities who have created a mythology out of their lives. Writing about Marilyn Monroe, Lillian Hellman, Martha Gellhorn, and Rebecca West [Rollyson later added the names of Susan Sontag and Jill Craigie] has allowed me to explore my fascination with the theater, film, literature, and politics.

"When a good part of my research is complete, I begin to write a draft. I write in three-hour spurts, revising the previous day's work and then going on to new material. On a good day, I write a 1,000-1,500 words, usually not less than 500. I write no matter if I am inspired or depressed. The act of writing is a joy—even when I have to revise heavily what seemed like such good work the day or week before. Mornings are the best, when anything seems possible, before the world has gotten to me. Afternoons are for reading, bike riding, and working on my new house."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

History Now, February, 2003, "Confessions of a Serial Biographer" (interview).

Mississippi Quarterly, summer, 2001, David Johnson, review of Uses of the Past in the Novels of William Faulkner, p. 412.

Newsday, May 24, 1988.

New York Times Book Review, May 8, 1988.