Richard Yates entered the world in Yonkers, New York, on the chilly day of February 3, 1926, cradled by the fabric of a middle-class upbringing. His parents parted ways when he was just two, leaving him in the devoted care of his mother, a sculptress whose hands molded both clay and her children's lives, alongside his older sister. As he grew, Yates attended the prestigious Avon Old Farms School, only to cast aside his student life to serve his country in World War II after graduation. Upon his return, the shadow of tuberculosis loomed over him, leading to over a year of convalescence in a Veterans' Administration-run sanatorium. Emerging from his convalescence, he exchanged vows with Sheila Bryant in 1948, and the couple embarked on a new chapter across the Atlantic in France.

The Dawn of a Literary Journey

In 1953, the literary world opened its doors to Yates when Atlantic Monthly welcomed one of his short stories, marking the beginning of his writing odyssey. Soon, Yates found himself back in the United States, where he juggled the world of freelance advertising while crafting his seminal novel, Revolutionary Road. Despite his creative pursuits, the demons of depression and alcoholism cast dark shadows, tearing apart his marriage by 1959.

An Acclaimed Voice

Upon its release in 1961, Revolutionary Road catapulted to fame, securing its place as a cornerstone of twentieth-century American literature. This newfound acclaim carried Yates into the political arena, where he penned speeches for Robert Kennedy, the U.S. attorney general of the time. Yet, the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963 prompted Yates to bid farewell to public service, leading him to the glamour of Hollywood as a screenwriter before becoming a mentor at the University of Iowa's Writers' Workshop. In 1968, he entered into matrimony once more with Martha Speer. However, after a seven-year tenure at Iowa, he departed when tenure was not granted, opting instead to impart his wisdom at various Midwestern institutions before ultimately returning to the vibrant pulse of New York City. After his second marriage ended in 1974, he relocated to Boston, where he penned four books between 1976 and 1986.

A Pen in the South

In 1991, Yates made his way to the University of Alabama, taking a temporary teaching role. Yet, as fate would have it, his health, burdened by emphysema, anchored him in Tuscaloosa after a two-year engagement. While crafting a novel inspired by his experiences as a speechwriter for Kennedy, his journey reached its conclusion at the VA hospital in Birmingham on November 7, 1992, following complications from hernia surgery. Yates's narrative legacy continued to unfold with "The Canal," a short story published posthumously in The Collected Stories of Richard Yates by Holt in 2001.