George Palmer Garrett Jr. ’52 *85

Returning to Princeton after four years in the Army, he completed his master’s degree in 1956 and launched his remarkable career in literature and as a teacher of creative writing, including a stint as a senior fellow at Princeton’s Council of the Humanities from 1974 to 1977.

From 1962 to 1967, George initiated the creative-writing program at the University of Virginia. After teaching elsewhere, he rejoined U. Va. in 1984 as the Henry Hoyns Professor of Creative Writing and lifted that program to national prominence. Princeton awarded him a Ph.D. in 1985. In 1999, George retired from U. Va.  

George excelled in several genres, producing eight volumes of poetry (in 2002, he was appointed poet laureate of Virginia), seven collections of short stories, and nine novels, including his masterpiece, The Elizabethan Trilogy — Death of the Fox (1971), The Succession (1983), and Entered from the Sun (1990).

U. Va. president John Casteen wrote: “Gifted and generous teacher, lively and kind companion, scholar of depth and vast range; George Garrett has left marks of his goodness wherever he has gone; it is hard to imagine another quite his equal.”

George is survived by his wife, Susan; two sons; and a daughter, to whom we extend our condolences.