RIP - Philip F. O'Connor

[Redwingtom]

A novel about the trials and tribulations of youth baseball catapulted Bowling Green State University creative writing director Philip F. O'Connor to prominence in 1979.

He went on to write several more works of fiction that earned acclaim as well as numerous short stories.

Mr. O'Connor, 75, died Monday (Aug. 18, 2008) at his home in Kentfield, CA.

A professor emeritus at BGSU, he authored "Stealing Home" in 1979, which went on to become a best seller and Book-of-the-Month Club alternate selection.

"It was very interesting to local people because it was clear that there were local connections and that there were characters in the book that could probably be identified with citizens of Bowling Green," said Les Barber, former director of the English Department at BGSU.

Mr. O'Connor was invited to BGSU in 1967 to establish a degree-granting creative writing program. In 1989 he was named Distinguished University Professor.

He earned a bachelor of science at the University of San Francisco in 1954, a master of arts degree in English from San Francisco State College in 1961, and a master of fine arts from the University of Iowa in 1963.

He worked as a journalist for the San Francisco News and taught high school English for four years.

More than 50 of his short stories are in print.

He was born in San Francisco on Dec. 3, 1932, to John Joseph and Josephine (Browne) O'Connor. He married Delores Doster in 1963, and they divorced. He married Martha Larson in 1994; they also divorced.
Also surviving are six children, John, Raleigh, N.C.; Chris, of New York; Erin, Washington, D.C.; Dondi, of Madison, Wis; and Hanlon and Ingrid, both of Kentfield; a brother, John J., and a sister, Peg Vollert, both of California; and six grandchildren.

The funeral was Friday, August 22nd. Monte's Chapel of the Hills, San Anselmo, Calif., handled arrangements.