The Ohio Connection

• Peter Taylor went to Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, in 1938. He was following his teacher, poet John Crowe Ransom. Taylor received his Bachelor’s degree from Kenyon in 1940.
• Taylor returned to Kenyon College as a visiting lecturer from 1952-57.
• He then taught at The Ohio State University from 1957-63. Jenice Jordan wrote in the Columbus Dispatch, December 6, 1959: “On the staff of the English department at Ohio State University where he has taught from January to June for the past two years, he ‘likes the students here better than anywhere else I’ve taught because here I have all kinds.’”
• While Taylor taught at Ohio State, his family lived in Bexley.
• Taylor won the Ohioana Book Award in 1960 for Happy Families are All Alike, a collection of short stories.
• “Chatham,” the fictional locale of several stories in Happy Families are All Alike, is a composite of Columbus, St. Louis, and Memphis, all places Taylor lived.

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