Peterson, Norman C., 1930-1992

Dates

• Existence: 1930 September 16 - 1992 May 21
• Existence: 1930-09-16 - 1992-05-21

Biography

Norman C. Peterson was born on September 16, 1930 in Beaumont, Texas. After graduating high school at the age of sixteen, he enrolled in the University of Texas at Austin where he studied under Dr. William Perry, a renowned authority on James Joyce. During his sophomore year, he won the Dallas Times Herald Creative Writing Contest, a competition for young writers from all across the South, with his story "Why the Bugs Didn't Get Ben Gage." This story was part of an unpublished compilation of his short stories entitled Rice Country. This was his first taste of success in his chosen career field.

Before finishing his undergraduate studies, he left school to join the Navy. While enlisted, he trained as a fighter pilot and flew in the Korean War with the 6th and 7th fleets from 1950 through 1955. Peterson then returned to the University of Texas and completed his Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Philosophy in 1956.

With degree in hand, he took a job as a flight engineer and co-pilot with Braniff Airlines for two years. During this time, he received a Rotary Foundation Fellowship and studied in New Zealand from 1957 through 1958. While there, he met and married his wife Kay, a Braniff airlines flight attendant. He then returned to the states and received his Master of Arts degree from the University of Texas in 1960 and his PhD from the University of Iowa in 1964.

He began teaching at Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos in 1963 while still working on his PhD, became a full professor there in 1974, and remained on the faculty until his death in 1992. His primary areas of specialization included creative writing, short fiction, and Norse mythology. During his time at the university, he won two teaching awards, served as acting head of the English department on numerous occasions, was one of the first to teach the university's freshman seminar course that all incoming students are required to attend, for which he wrote a portion of the text, created the Masters' program in English, participated in the American Council on Education's Academic Administrative Internship Program, and directed over sixty masters' theses.

Concurrently he was engaged in writing of his own, and many of his short stories and poems were published. He died on May 21, 1992 at the age of sixty-one.

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