Max Steele (1922–2005) Biography

(Henry Maxwell Steele)

OBITUARY NOTICE—See index for SATA sketch: Born March 30, 1922, in Greenville, SC; died August 1, 2005, in Chapel Hill, NC. Educator and author. Steele was a University of North Carolina creative writing professor and award-winning author of novels and short stories. After attending several different universities and serving in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II, he earned a B.A. from the University of North Carolina in 1946. He then continued his studies in France at the Sorbonne and the Academie Julienne. Returning to the United States, he lectured at his alma mater for two years and taught at the Bread Loaf Writers Conference in 1956. Teaching at the University of North Carolina, he rose to the post of full professor of creative writing in 1972 and directed the writing program from 1968 to 1988, when he retired. Steele not only taught writing; he was an accomplished fiction author himself. His work includes the novel Debby (1950; retitled The Goblins Must Go Bare), which won the Harper Prize; short stories—two of which earned him O. Henry prizes; and three children's books. He was also an editor for the highly regarded Story magazine.