Person

Day, Douglas

1932-2004

Douglas Turner Day III was born May 1, 1932, in Colón, Republic of Panama, to parents Bess Turner Nelson Day and Douglas Turner Day II. After an early academic career marked by demerits, Day enlisted in the US Marine Corps, where he achieved the rank of second lieutenant and served as a pilot until an automobile accident in 1955. After, he was a lieutenant colonel in the Marine Corps Reserve.

Day took a bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, and PhD from University of Virginia (1952, 1959, and 1962 respectively) and joined the Department of English there as a professor of English and Comparative Literature in 1968; he retired in 2000. Day was a respected academic in his field, and he published several books of criticism, including Swifter than Reason: The Poetry and Criticism of Robert Graves (1963), a biography of Malcolm Lowry which won the 1974 National Book Award in Biography, and two novels, Journey of the Wolf (1977) and The Prison Notebooks of Ricardo Flores Magon (1991). Day also traveled and lectured extensively in Spain and South America, and he was elected a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society in 1995.

Day was married five times. First to Mary Hill Noble, from 1954 to 1967, with whom he had two sons and two daughters (one of whom died in infancy). Second to Elisabeth Marie Holscher, from 1967 to 1978, with whom he had one son. Third to Gay Allis Rose Clifford from 1979 to 1982. Fourth to Nancy Ellen Willner from 1982 to 1988. And finally, to Sheila Marie McMillen from 1990 until his death by suicide in 2004. Day had a debilitating stroke in February 2004 and died in his home in Charlottesville, Virginia, in October. His children are Douglas Turner Day IV, Ian Day, Patrick Day, and surviving daughter Emily Day Whitworth.

Record updated by Malcolm Fish, 27 October 2023.