Biographical Text
Professor Emeritus of English Maynard John Higby (December30,1936-), was born in Utica, New York, the son of Maynard and Lucille Hanley Higby. Higby grew up in Utica, and in 1952 moved with his family to Clemson, South Carolina. After his junior year in high school, he entered Clemson College (now Clemson University). Higby received his B.S. degree in arts and sciences from Clemson College in 1958. From 1958 until 1961, he was in the United States Army Security Agency. After spending a little over a year with a corporation (1961-62), he decided to go to graduate school. His M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in English (1965 and 1970 respectively) were from the University of South Carolina, Columbia. In 1959, Dr. Higby married Constance (Connie) Bentley in Youngstown, Ohio. The Higbys have two children and one grandchild. A daughter, Suzannah, lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, and a son, Mark, lives in Charlotte, North Carolina. Dr. Higby joined the faculty at Appalachian State University in 1967 as an assistant professor in the Department of English. Originally hired to teach eighteenth-century English literature, he also taught advanced classes in continental European literature, especially Russian literature. During his tenure, Dr. Higby was a member of the South Atlantic Modern Language Association and of the Association of Literary Scholars and Critics. He was also involved in many administrative and committee assignments at Appalachian State: Committee for Admissions and Re-admissions; Athletic Council; Campus Wide and Public Programs Committee; Graduate Council; Academic Policy and Procedures Committee; Director of Graduate Studies in English; Library Services Committee; Faculty Grievance Hearing Committee; Steering Committee, Friends of the Library; and Library Advisory Board. Among Higby's numerous publications during his career are the following: • "Taylor's 'Huswifery.'" Explicator 30 (1972). • "Idea and Art in Prior's Dialogues of the Dead." Enlightenment Essays 5 (1974): 62-69. • "Wolfe and Sandberg: A Dialogue of the Dead." Laurel Leaves, Special Literary Edition 4 (1977). (Second Award in a literary competition sponsored by North Carolina Arts Council and the Appalachian Consortium.) • "Some Notes on Samuel A. Maverick." Tennessee Folklore Society Bulletin 49 (1983): 181-184. • "Sawyer at Evening." Appalachian Heritage 17 (1989): 38-41 (fiction). In Memory: BFH. Watertown, New York: Minuteman Press, 1990. (narrative poetry, soft-cover) • "Ivan Turgenev." Magill's Survey of World Literature. Pasadena: Salem Press, 1992. • "Vladimir Voinovich." Supplement to Magill's Survey of World Literature. Pasadena: Salem Press, 1995. • The Adventures of Francelia Whitefoot (children's fiction). Boone: Parkway Publications, 1999. • The Rhinehart Collection: An Annotated Bibliography. Boone, N.C., Belk Library, ASU, 2007. Dr. Higby's activities since retiring are bird-watching, hiking, occasional trout fishing, and reading. He is also providing his wife with a fairly efficient yard man. Sources: Dr. Higby's vita and personal correspondence. -Dr. Kay R. Dickson
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