Richard G. Stern

Richard G. Stern occupied a unique, somewhat subterranean, position in American letters. For decades, from his post as a professor at the University of Chicago, he wrote finely observed novels and stories that mapped the interior landscapes of academics, writers, and artists. His work, including novels like *Golk* and *Other Men’s Daughters*, is characterized by a cerebral wit and a deep fascination with the clash between intellectual ambition and human frailty. He was less interested in grand plots than in the nuances of thought and conversation, earning him deep admiration from fellow writers like Saul Bellow and Philip Roth, even as he remained somewhat outside the mainstream literary spotlight. Stern was also a gifted teacher and correspondent, and his meticulous attention to the craft of writing—both in his fiction and in his insightful essays—cemented his role as a vital connector and critic within the literary community of his time.