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D. Keith Mano

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
D. Keith Mano
Mano in 1971, photographed by Jill Krementz
Born
David Keith Mano

(1942-02-12)February 12, 1942
DiedSeptember 14, 2016(2016-09-14) (aged 74)
EducationColumbia University (BA)
Clare College, Cambridge
OccupationPolitical commentator

David Keith Mano (February 12, 1942[1] – September 14, 2016) was an American writer and political commentator, known for his work in National Review.

Early life

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Mano attended Trinity School (where, he claimed, he converted to Episcopalianism in order to be eligible for a prize)[2] and Columbia University, where he studied under Lionel Trilling.[3]

He subsequently received a Kellett Fellowship[2] and spent a year at Clare College, Cambridge, where he studied under F. R. Leavis,[3] and performed as part of the Marlowe Society.[2]

Upon returning to the United States, he performed with the National Shakespeare Company while also managing his family's construction business.[2]

Writing

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Mano's first novel, Bishop's Progress, was published in 1968. His next five novels were published one per year until 1973; Jeffrey Hart noted that Mano's seventh novel, Take Five, took nine years to write — which, in Hart's assessment, "wrecked [Mano] as a commercial possibility".[3] Mano later published two more novels, for a total of nine.[2]

From 1972 to 1989, Mano's column "The Gimlet Eye" was published in National Review,[4] where he was listed on the masthead;[2] he was also listed as a contributing editor at Playboy, and provided book reviews for Esquire and film reviews for Oui.[5]

In the 1980s, he began writing for television, and produced scripts for Monsters and LA Law[2] and Homicide: Life on the Street;[6] as well, he wrote the episode of St. Elsewhere for which Steve Allen was nominated for the 1987 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series.[5]

Personal life

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Mano was married to actress Laurie Kennedy,[5] and had two sons from his first marriage to Jo McArthur.[2]

In the 1970s he abandoned Episcopalianism for a variety of reasons, reportedly including his refusal to be given the Eucharist by a woman.[1] He subsequently joined the Eastern Orthodox Church.[5][1]

In the mid-1990s, Mano developed Parkinson's disease.[2]

Publications

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  • Bishop's Progress : A Novel (Boston : Houghton Mifflin, 1968)
  • Horn (Boston : Houghton Mifflin, 1969)
  • War Is Heaven! (Garden City, NY : Doubleday, 1970)
  • Death and Life of Harry Goth (New York : Knopf, 1971)
  • Proselytizer (New York : Knopf, 1972)
  • Bridge (Garden City, NY : Doubleday, 1973)
  • Take Five (Garden City, NY : Doubleday, 1982)
  • Topless (New York : Random House, 1991)
  • The Fergus Dialogues: A Meditation on the Gender of Christ (International Scholars Publications, 1998)

References

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  1. ^ a b c Keith Mano, Christian novelist who explored extremes of sex and faith, dies at 74, by Matt Schudel, in The Washington Post; published September 21, 2016; retrieved May 5, 2021
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i D. Keith Mano, a Novelist Who Tackled Christianity, Sex and More, Dies at 74, by William Grimes, in The New York Times; published September 20, 2016; retrieved May 5, 2021
  3. ^ a b c The Achievement of D. Keith Mano, by Jeffrey Hart, in The Sewanee Review; volume 110, number 2 (Spring 2002); p. 289-297
  4. ^ The Gimlet-Eyed, by Richard Brookhiser, in National Review; published November 7, 2016; retrieved May 5, 2021
  5. ^ a b c d He keeps his eyes open in topless clubs, by Dave Matheny, in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune; published September 21, 1991; retrieved May 5, 2021, via ProQuest
  6. ^ doi:10.1111/j.0022-3840.2001.3404_137.x: "The Existential Condition of Television Crime Drama", by Philip J. Lane; in The Journal of Popular Culture; published March 5, 2004
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