RIP John Leggett, Former Director of the Iowa Writers' Workshop

SFGate sends word that the former director of the Iowa Writers Workshop has died. John Leggett was 97 years old. Later in his life he co-founded and directed the Napa Valley Writers' Conference. From SFGate:

Mr. Leggett, who also wrote seven books, five of them novels, died Sunday at Queen of the Valley Medical Center in Napa, said his stepdaughter, Anne Evers Hitz. No cause of death was given.

Among the many writers Mr. Leggett admitted to the prestigious Iowa program are T.C. Boyle, Ethan Canin, Michael Cunningham, Gail Godwin, Denis Johnson and Jane Smiley.

In 1986, when the Iowa Writers’ Workshop was celebrating its 50th anniversary, Mr. Leggett told The Chronicle that “for many years other universities wouldn’t touch (creative writing) … most English departments feel it’s not academic enough. They think of writing as a God-given talent that can’t be taught or assessed in terms of student progress. [...]

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